Weiss Cream
by FourNails1341
Summary: Two months ago, Weiss Schnee had been the rich heiress to a business empire. Now she worked at an Ice-cream parlor run by people who seemed half insane. She wasn't quite sure how that had happened. Modern day Au
1. Chapter 1

Weiss opened her eyes. For a few seconds, she didn't recognize her surroundings and she immediately started to panic. Then she remembered and slumped back into her bed. Just like every morning for the past two months.

Rolling over, she picked up her phone and stared at it.

10:13

No new messages.

Of course not. She frowned at the time though. She used to wake up naturally at eight every day. Her standards were slipping. Not that she ever had any reason to get up early anymore.

She should still get up though. For one, it was far too hot to stay in bed. The single ceiling fan spun slowly and Winter didn't have the money to pay for air conditioning all day just for her benefit.

Peeling herself out of the covers, Weiss rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She frowned, feeling like she was forgetting something. Oh well. It would probably come to her eventually.

She opened the door to the rest of the apartment. Somehow it was even hotter. On the floor in front of her bed sat a note from her sister.

 _"No one else will make your bed."_

She scowled. Not for the first time, Weiss considered phoning her father and going home. Back to an air conditioned mansion. Back to a bed with more than one pillow and a double mattress instead of a single one that was half as thick as it needed to be.

But it would mean accepting defeat. It would mean apologizing and admitting to her father that he was right. That she couldn't handle life without his money and couldn't make it on her own.

So like she did every day, Weiss sighed and walked back into her room. She made her bed, badly but she still made it. Then she went to go shower in lukewarm water.

The apartment wasn't really that bad. It was just basic. The military contractors Winter worked for owned a dozen or so places like it. The fact that it even had a spare room for Weiss to stay in was a miracle. She wasn't sure she could have survived two months on the couch.

Finishing up in the bathroom, Weiss hung up her towel to dry. That had been two weeks before she had finally learned to do that. Even then it had mostly been because Winter had snapped at her, the third time they had ran out of dry towels. Still, she had beaten the note and she would take that as a victory. No matter how shallow it was.

Now dressed, she headed to the biggest cause of stress in her day to day life. The kitchen.

Winter's notes littered practically every station. Instructions or warnings to help her overcome the grueling trials of making breakfast. Or lunch. At this point it was about twelve.

Before walking out on her father, Weiss had considered herself above average in terms of competence. Top grades at some one of the best high schools in the country. A talented singer and a professional fencer, Weiss Schnee felt like she had earned the right to be slightly cocky.

Living with Winter had shattered that illusion almost immediately. Weiss had discovered that far from being perfect, she was actually horribly incompetent.

Winter told her it would pass and that she had gone through the same thing when she had left home. Soon she would adapt and then she could finally stand on her own. It just took a little time.

It wasn't really her fault, Weiss reasoned. She had been the heiress to the Schnee business and as a result had a large amount of servants and people making sure she was looked after.

Regular people had never had that, so regular people didn't realise how hard it was to adapt. Regular people were taught how to look after themselves. Weiss never had been. It wasn't fair.

Biting her lip, Weiss reached out for the fridge. She could do this. She was Weiss Schnee and god dammit she was going to make breakfast.

Three pans, two whisks, four eggs and a near miss with the smoke detector later, she ate cereal.

Weiss Schnee was useless.

* * *

The dishes were scattered around the kitchen, surrounded by various stains, burns and spills. Tomorrow she would cut her losses and start with cereal. Even though that had been soggy and rather unpleasant...

Maybe if she got up early enough she could catch breakfast with Winter. Though Winter probably didn't need breakfast. Half the time it didn't seem like she needed anything.

Her sister would be annoyed if she left all these dishes though. That note she had actually remembered on her own. Mostly because there was normally so much to do that it was hard to miss, even for her.

Dumping the pans in the sink, she turned on the tap and was met with a torrent of cold soapy water splashing straight into her face. With a shriek, she jumped back almost slipping on the wet floor, hands flailing as she struggled to regain her balance.

Crash!

The glass smashed against the tiles and milk spilled everywhere. Standing alone in a mixture of milk, dish water and glass, Weiss sighed.

* * *

After the initial mishap, she managed to clean the rest of the dishes without further incident. And it only took her half an hour. Plus another five minutes to change into dry clothes.

She checked her phone.

12:06

No new messages.

Well that just left her six hours until Winter got home. There must be some way to fill the time until then. She could just go for a walk. Explore the town a little.

Despite being here for two months, Weiss still hadn't seen a lot of the sea side village of Vale. She told herself that it was because Winter had promised to show her around and her sister had been busy working.

The door to the apartment stood over her. Daring her to open it.

Maybe she should just stay in. It looked kinda cloudy and Winter would probably be a better tour guide anyway. There was probably something good to watch on TV in the meantime.

* * *

The door to the apartment opened with a click. Lying on the couch, Weiss didn't move.

"Hey Weiss."

"Hmm."

There was a pause.

"Oh my day was fine Weiss. Thanks for asking."

The sarcastic words snapped Weiss out of her crappy drama induced trance. Leaning up from her spot on her couch she found her sister looking at with an amused look on her face.

"Winter," she said. "You're home early."

"Actually I'm an hour and half late but good to see that your private school education didn't go to waste."

"Shut up."

"Oh." Winter held up a bag and Weiss felt her mouth water as she recognized the smell. "Guess you don't want dinner then?"

"..."

"That's what I thought," her sister said with a smirk. "Set the table."

Five minutes later and they were eating Thai food. Not exactly what many people would expect a family of their wealth would eat but it had been Weiss's favorite for years. And now the two sisters could barely afford rent, it was a luxury Winter would sometimes indulge them in. It just wasn't handmade anymore over the course of four hours. .

"Why were you late then?" Weiss asked.

"Same as always," Winter muttered. "Colleague was hungover again and it delayed us most of the morning."

"You're always complaining about him, how is he still working there?"

"He's a consultant for a partner company so Ironwood can't do much. He hates him as much as I do. Maybe more"

Winter sighed.

"Drunken asshole."

"A drunken asshole you talk about nearly every day."

Winter glared at her.

"Careful sister."

"Hmm?" she said innocently.

Her sister put down her chopsticks, giving Weiss a look that made her suddenly nervous. She had a feeling that this next conversation was not going to go well for her.

"So the place I usually go for coffee was closed today."

"Really?" Weiss said standing up quickly. "Well that's interesting but it's late-"

"Sit down." She hesitated. "Now."

There was no room for augment in her sister's voice and reluctantly Weiss obeyed. Winter smiled.

"Anyway," she said as she continued eating. "I tried this place down on the pier and I happened to notice they were hiring..."

Weiss almost choked on a prawn. Whatever she had been expecting it hadn't been that. Only after a few moments of near death did she manage to splutter out a response.

"You want me to be a waitress?"

"Would that be so bad?"

"Yes," she said incredulously. "I'm a Schnee."

"And? So am I. and I still work."

"It's not about working. It's..." Weiss floundered trying to think of an excuse. "Someone might recognize me."

"We were rich, not famous," Winter countered. "People will only know if you tell them."

"But-"

"Weiss, when you moved in with me, you told me that you wanted to live your own life."

"I do but-"

"For the past two months you have laid on the couch and done nothing."

"I know but-"

"You are my baby sister, Weiss. You can stay as long as you need to." Winter smiled reassuringly. "But you can do more and you know it. Please just consider it."

Weiss didn't reply and thankfully her sister didn't push the subject.

They resumed eating in silence. Well, Winter resumed eating. Weiss just kinda moved her food around. She had lost her appetite.

"I'm going to bed," Winter said standing up from the table. "Clean up here, will you?"

And then she was left alone. Sighing again, Weiss started trying to tidy away the dishes. She even managed to do it without spilling anything this time.

Practically a domestic goddess. Who wouldn't want to hire her?

* * *

Weiss couldn't sleep. The ocean waves, normally so soothing sounded harsh and threatening. And the bed which was usually so... Actually the bed was always terrible.

Her sister meant well, and was probably right. She needed to do something with her life. Something besides watching terrible television shows.

Letting out a growl of frustration, she rolled over, hoping her pillow could block out the crashing waves. It didn't work.

This was so typical of her. After the argument with her father, she had sat on trains for three hours with nowhere to go. Somehow Winter had found out about the fight with their father and practically ordered her to Vale. If she hadn't reached out, Weiss would still be on that train. Five years with no contact and Winter hadn't even hesitated.

She had looked exhausted at dinner. Weiss didn't know how much she had used to work but in the past month, it seemed like Winter had doubled her overtime hours. Her sister would never admit it but Weiss knew it was her fault.

Atlas might subsidize the housing of their employees but the wages were meant to be for a single employee who didn't do much else besides from work. They weren't really meant to stretch to said employee and her sister who doubled each bill. Weiss was straining her sister both physically and financially. Any decent sister would have jumped at the chance to pay her back or at least ease the burden.

Winter didn't understand though. Weiss honestly didn't think she was too good for the job. Weiss was scared she wasn't good enough. The last few months had been a bitter wakeup call and she wasn't sure she could handle the rejection right now.

Beacon.

* * *

Weiss stared up at the neon sign. It looked more like an ice cream parlor than a cafe. She wasn't sure if that was better. It might be simpler. Teas and coffee came in so many forms. They had history and a rich heritage. Ice cream was just ice cream. How complicated could it get?

On cue, a waitress with dark red hair practically bounced by, holding a tray with the most complex looking ice cream- wait, was that a milkshake?

"Excuse me," she asked curiously. "Um... What is that?"

"This? Oh this is a Crescent Rose-" How was she so happy about a drink? "-And it comes highly recommended."

That didn't answer anything. Were there flowers in that dessert? Was it even a dessert? Was it a decoration? An art piece?

"I see…"

The girl smiled before heading off to deliver the... Crescent Rose.

Sighing, Weiss reluctantly headed into the parlor, the air conditioning a welcome relief from the beach town sun. She wasn't built for this weather.

It wasn't that big, with most of the room taken up by a long counter showcasing a variety of different flavors of ice cream. The other two walls were lined with booths and the rest of the floor taken up by smaller tables.

It seemed a tad excessive considering the amount of customers they currently had. Then again, it was ten o'clock on a Tuesday. Hardly peak times. Wait, who would have ordered that monstrosity of sugar and cream at this time?

Glancing out the window, she saw the waitress from before gorging herself on the dessert that was bigger than her. What was this place?

Straightening her skirt, Weiss walked up to the till where a black haired girl was standing reading a book. After a few moments of not being noticed, Weiss coughed.

"Excuse me."

"Hmm, oh sorry," the girl said sounding bored. "Can I get you anything?"

"No thank you. I... Uh." Her confidence suddenly vanished under the girl's disapproving gaze. "Umm."

"Are you alright?" The girl asked and Weiss panicked.

"Areyouhiring?"

"What?"

Dammit. No this was fine. She could still recover this. Remember what Winter told you. Polite but professional.

"May I inquire as to whether or not your fine establishment is looking for further employees?"

The look she was given made Weiss wish she could just melt into the ground and vanish forever. She had been given speech lessons since she was seven so that she wouldn't embarrass the family. How was this so hard?

"Right... I'll go get Mr Xiao Long."

The other girl walked away and Weiss had to resist the urge to groan. Maybe she should just cut her losses and leave before embarrassing herself further.

"Hi, I'm Yang."

Too late. In front of her stood another waitress. How many people worked here?

"So you looking for a job?"

"The other waitress said I would be talking a Mr Xiao Long."

"Yeah my dad technically owns the place but he normally tells me to handle the employee stuff," the older girl said causally. "He prefers to stay in the background. You wanna get started then?"

"Oh. Yes of course."

Yang looked at her, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

"Are you alright? You look kinda nervous. Did Blake say something?"

"Who?"

"The waitress who you talked to you before. You know, the one who looked kinda annoyed you were interrupting her reading?"

"Oh. No she was perfectly civil."

Yang laughed. Weiss didn't know why.

"Yeah she is that. Come on, let's go grab a seat."

Weiss forced a smile - she hoped seemed confident and not creepy.

"Lead the way."

* * *

Sitting in the booth while Yang read over her resume felt like the second longest experience of Weiss's life. And considering how short her resume was, that was saying something.

It consisted of her high school grades and some extracurricular activities Winter had made up to pad it out. Well, exaggerated more than made up. Maybe her singing hadn't been a part of the school choir but it still counted. And fencing was kind of a sport.

"So," Yang said after what seemed like an eternity. "You're new to Vale?"

"Yes. I just moved here recently."

"You going to college here or anything?"

"No."

"Really? With these grades." Yang shrugged. "Living with your parents."

"No, my older sister. My father is... It's complicated."

"I know that game," Yang murmured sadly. "Doesn't really matter but I take it that means you can work anytime?"

"Yes, my hours are flexible and I am a very punctual person."

"That's good," she said. "We don't really mind if you are a little late."

"That will not be a problem. I only live on the pier."

"The Atlas apartment? Oh my uncle lives there when he's is town."

What does that have to do with anything? Probably not the best response though. Professional but polite remember. What would Winter say?

"That's..." Pretend to care. "Nice?"

Perfect. Luckily Yang didn't seem to catch it.

"So your availability is good. Probably will get you screwed on the rota though. Shouldn't have told me that."

Yang laughed at her own joke. A second later, Weiss did too.

* * *

"Have you ever been convicted of any criminal activity?"

Weiss laughed genuinely for the first time that day.

"No, of course not."

"Don't be so quick to judge," Yang smirked. "Everyone makes mistakes when they're young."

Hmpf. Not everyone. Though what should she really expect from people of this background.

"Really? Like what?"

"Oh you know, hypothetically, underage drinking," Yang coughed. "I think Nora used to steal gum. Hell even Blake-"

Suddenly Yang paled. Clearly she had said too much.

"But enough about me," she said hastily. "No criminal record, check."

* * *

"Can you tell me about a time you overcame great adversity?"

She blinked.

 _Her rapier hit the floor with a clang and she yelped, clutching her hand in pain._

 _"Again Weiss."_

 _She scrambled to pick up the blade, trying not to look at her father. Thankfully the safety mask prevented her from seeing the look of disappointment etched on his face._

 _"This time, do it right and do it faster."_

"Hey."

Weiss jumped and found herself staring at Yang's slightly unnerved face.

"Hmm. Sorry what?"

"Are you alright? You kinda zoned out for a minute... Or five."

Face reddening, she quickly tried to recover. Her hand brushed over the scar that marked her face, freezing as she saw Yang's eyes flicker to it.

"Sorry," she said. "Can you please repeat the question?"

"You know what? Never mind," Yang said, shuffling her papers around. "It's a stupid question anyway."

* * *

"What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

"That's an actual question?"

"Yup," Yang said spinning the paper around to show the note pad. Glancing at the other questions, she noticed she was nearly done. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell if she was doing well at all.

"Not the greatest question I'll admit but Ruby made me put it in."

"Ruby?"

"She's my sister." Yang pointed the red haired waitress with the strange dessert. "You'll be working with her if we hire you."

"The one eating that umm..." Crap what was it called. "Moon Flower drink?"

"Moon flower... Oh you mean the Crescent Rose." Yang laughed. "Yeah she made that herself. It's sorta a tradition we have here. Newbies have to make up their own creation. We add them to the specials board every now and then if they're popular."

"What's yours called?" She asked genuinely curious for some bizarre reason.

"The Ember Cecilia."

"Oh."

That didn't help at all.

"Anyway, favorite flavor?"

She paused for a few moments. The best ice cream she had ever tasted had been a honey blend, hand made by a chef that had also been imported. Not the honey, the chef.

Probably not an exceptional answer. Keep it simple.

"Lemon."

Yang tisked.

"The correct answer was Mango sorbet but whatever."

* * *

"Okay that should about do it," Yang muttered with a pen in her mouth. "Any questions."

Crap. Winter had told her to prepare for this but she didn't think it would actually come up. Think fast.

"How many other employees are there?"

Generic but it seemed to do the trick. Yang leaned back, relaxing now the formal part was apparently over. Weiss remained tense.

"There are eight of us including my dad but you'll never see him. He'll either be in his office or working from home. He handles the actual business stuff and leaves us to the shop."

Holding up her hands, Yang started counting off names,

"Apart from him there is me, obviously, Blake and Ruby." She jerked her thumb up to the desk. "Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren. Shifts are divided into days and half days. Three people during the week, four on weekends. We work 7 to 4. Breaks are sorted on the day, depending on how busy it is."

Weiss blinked, struggling to keep up with the rapid fire burst of information. Though the fact she being told all this had to be a good sign, right? Suddenly, Yang groaned, covering her face with her hands and Weiss felt her heart-rate going into overdrive.

"Wait no, what did I do?"

"I just realised I never asked your name," Yang said with an embarrassed smile. "That should really have been my first question."

"Oh, my name is Weiss Schnee. It is a pleasure to meet you."

She held out her hand, and Yang shook it eyebrow raised.

"Uhh... Nice to meet you-" The blonde froze, eyes widening. Weiss felt her heart begin to pound. How could Yang know the name? "Wait, Weiss Schnee?"

"Is that a problem?" she said trying to appear calm.

"No it's perfect." Yang's eyes were filled with wonder. "Your name is literally perfect."

Yang bit her lip as though struggling not to contain a grin. Weiss felt like she should question on it. What was funny about her name?

"Well, I was going to call you later to seem professional but screw it, you got the job."

Her eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe it.

"Really? Oh my god, thank you so much. I promise that you won't-" Weiss froze. Polite but professional. "I mean, I humbly thank you for this opportunity."

"No problem..." Yang said bemused. "Just fill in these forms and emergency contacts while I got get you a uniform."

Face still slightly pink and not trusting herself to speak, Weiss nodded. Only when Yang was out of ear shot and she was sure she was alone did she finally let out a squeal of glee.

She had a job. They had said yes and she had a job. A job with coworkers and wages and shifts and uniforms and- wait uniforms?

* * *

This could not be happening to her.

"Weiss, come out."

"No," she squeaked. "Go away."

"Not a chance. Let me see it."

"Winter..."

"I am not leaving until I see it."

Weiss whined inside the bathroom as she stared at her reflection. Her own reflection that couldn't possibly be right because Weiss Schnee would never suffer this- this abomination. They couldn't really expect her to wear this, right?

"Weiss."

She stomped her foot in frustration.

"Promise not to laugh?"

"I promise."

Letting out another whine, Weiss reached for the door and, half hoping it would break. Disappointingly, it was still functional. Staring at the ground, she shuffled out.

"Well..."

"You look very... professional?"

Snapping her head up, Weiss glared at her smirking sister.

"I hate you."

"What? I think you look very smart in your little-"

"Please don't say it."

"Uniform," Winter finished.

When Yang had given her the outfit, she had almost quit on the spot. She looked like some diner trash. With her pin striped dress and apron with pockets. At least she was given a choice of colour. White with silver stripes wasn't so bad. She couldn't have handed pink.

"I think she gave me a size too small," she said trying to recover some dignity.

Winter just laughed.

"I don't think she did."

Weiss reddened even more.

"What? But it's so tight."

"You really know nothing about advertising, do you?"

"But why would you make a skirt that sho- oh."

This was even worse than she thought. She tried to pull it down and it still didn't reach her knee. Whining again she looked up to see her sister biting her lip.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Yes."

Winter's eyes widened suddenly making Weiss's stomach drop.

"Surely any waitress working at such a fine establishment would require some sort of headgear?"

Weiss glared at her sister's smiling face before pulling out the sun visor. There was a moment of silence. Then Winter snorted into her hands.

Letting out a final whine, she threw the stupid hat at her sister and stormed into her room.

"Wait, Weiss I'm sorry."

"You promised."

"I know. I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you."

There was a pause.

"I can do your hair in pigtails if you want?"

She slammed the door as her sister dissolved into laughter. Sliding down the door and onto the wood, the former heiress held her head in hands.

A year ago, Weiss had been a prom queen. She had four walk-in closets, an elite social circle and a bright future.

Now she was dressing like a two-bit whore at a Halloween party.

It wasn't fair.

* * *

Group Text

Yang - "Hey guys. Even if you aren't working can you come in on Saturday? I hired a new girl and I want everyone to meet her."

Blake - "You hired that weird rude girl?"

Ruby - "Pot calling the kettle black."

Yang - "More like pot calling the kettle Blake. :D:D:D"

Blake - "..."

Blake - "Thanks."

Ruby - "Oh she was the one who liked the Crescent Rose. She seemed nice."

Ruby - "What's her name?"

Yang - "Weiss Schnee."

Blake - "Please don't tell me you hired her just so you can make 'Weiss Cream' jokes?"

Yang - "Yes."

Yang - "Yes I did"

Blake - "..."

Yang - ":D"


	2. Chapter 2

Saturday rolled around far too quickly and Weiss woke up before her alarm rang. Half an hour tossing and turning, she gave up on trying to sleep and just decided to get ready.

The shower was warmer than usual. Must be the first time she had showered before her sister since arriving. Still, she didn't dwell in the water, washing herself quickly just in case. Tardiness was not becoming of her.

She dressed quickly since it didn't really matter. Yang had told her to wear whatever since they had changing rooms there. Frowning, Weiss realised Yang hadn't said if there were two sets or if it was unisex.

A sinking feeling in her stomach told her it was the latter. No way was that place big enough to justify a second room for only two male workers. Great, she was probably working with perverts as well.

Thankfully she was saved from having to make herself breakfast by her sister. Despite her initial teasing, Winter had expressed pride in her sister's success. She had even sacrificed her lie in so that she could show her support.

"I know you're nervous-"

"I'm not nervous."

"I was too on my first day."

"You started working for Atlas, a highly respected military contractor. I'm scooping ice cream," she said bitterly. "What do I have to be nervous about?"

"As usual, dear sister, you are missing the point entirely." Winter sighed. "I know it's not ideal but it's a good opportunity regardless."

"I know."

"It's just a starting foundation."

"I know."

"You have a chance to make new friends. Real friends."

"I know Winter," she snapped. "You don't have to try and make me feel better about it."

No longer feeling hungry, Weiss shoved her plate away and stood up.

"I'd better go. Wouldn't want to be late on my first day, would I?"

Her sister looked like she wanted to say more but thankfully decided against it.

"Alright Weiss. Have it your way. Just remember to relax and try not to act too much like-"

"Like myself?"

"I was going to say like a Schnee."

She laughed humorlessly.

"I'll try to remember that."

Picking up the bag that contained her uniform, Weiss headed for the door. But as she stepped into the corridor, she found herself hesitating. Slowly, she turned around to face her sister.

"Is it... Is it noticeable?" she asked quietly. Winter would know what she meant after all.

In the Schnee manor, that question would never have been answered properly. Servants and maids would lie and tell her she looked as beautiful as always. And she had learned not to ask her father.

But Winter would never lie to her. For better or for worse.

"It's fine," Winter said after a few moments. "Now go to work."

Weiss nodded, steeling herself before stepping into the hallway. The door slammed behind her, Winter's final words just barely making it through.

"Good luck."

* * *

Weiss once had to sing for her high school. A private school that boasted five hundred students. Not all had come of course, but with the teachers, their spouses and all the parents, overall it had been about seven hundred in attendance.

Now she stood before seven people. Just seven regular people of no importance and yet she would rather face the concert again.

"So everyone," Yang said breaking the awkward silence. "This is Weiss. Weiss, this is everyone."

"Good morning," she said. "I'm Weiss..."

Crap, they already knew that.

Silence met her introduction and after a few moments, Yang rolled her eyes.

"Thanks guys."

The short red haired waitress from before stepped forward.

"Hi! I'm Ruby, we met at your interview."

She would hardly describe it as a meeting. More like a question about the girl's extravagant taste in desert. Though perhaps it was a chance to score some points.

"Yes I remember," she said, hoping she sounded casual. "You had your... Crescent Rose?"

The girl's eyes lit up at the name so Weiss had probably gotten it right. That was a good start.

"That's right," Ruby said with glee. "And you remember Blake too right?"

Ruby gestures behind her to the black haired girl who looked just as disinterested now as she did before. In absence of a book, she played with the bow atop her head.

"Hey," she said simply after a nudge from one of the others.

"Umm hi..."

Well this was going swimmingly. Thankfully, Blake's dismissal had not affected Ruby's enthusiasm and the others seemed to have caught it.

"Hi I'm Nora. Nora Valkyrie and this is my best friend Ren."

"Sup."

"We normally work the same shifts since we work so well together... Well not together together obviously. It's just that since we have known each other since we were kids we practically know what the other is thinking. Plus-"

"Nora," the red headed interrupted. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what? Oh sorry."

Nora grinned apologetically as though waiting for a response. Weiss didn't know what to say. She had barely be able to keep up with the girls rapid fire speech. Thankfully the red head stepped in to save her.

"Hi, I'm Pyrrha," she said. "Don't mind Nora, you get used to it."

"No it's fine. It's just..." Her stammer fell away as Weiss frowned at Pyrrha. "Have we met before?"

The moment she said it, Weiss regretted it. How could anyone she might have known possible be here? And if by some chance there was, what possible chance could there be that they wouldn't recognize her. She was a Schnee after all. And how could she be stupid enough to draw attention to it?

But instead of suspicion, her words were met with laughter and Pyrrha's face reddened to match her hair.

"Wow that's got to be a new record P," Yang said. "First conversation no less. Didn't it take Jaune three months?"

"Yes it's just... Wonderful."

"I don't understand," Weiss said, half thinking the joke to be about her. "Do I know you?"

"Pyrrha here is our local celebrity," Yang said hugging Pyrrha's neck. "She did cereal commercials when she was a kid."

"I don't think Weiss really cares that much about-"

"How did it go again?" Nora said coyly.

"Please let's not do this."

"It's right on the tip of my tongue..."

Pyrrha sighed.

"Pumpkin Pete's, the taste you just can't beat."

The room dissolved into laughed which Weiss joined halfheartedly.

"That must be it."

It definitely was not it. Weiss hadn't seen a cereal box until she had moved in with Winter. Breakfast had been made for her and her father would rather see her not eat than eat some the sugary kiddie cereal that Pyrrha had no doubt showcased.

The final person stepped forward. A blonde boy that bowed as he stepped forward.

"And last, but certainly not least-"

"Debatable."

"Yang!"

The boy glared at Yang who just shrugged. Clearing his throat, he resumed his introduction.

"As I was saying, I am Jaune Arc. Short sweet, ladies love it."

"Do they?" Weiss asked and the room laughed.

"They will."

"I'm getting Deja Vu," Ruby said quietly.

"That's because he introduces himself to every girl this way."

"Not everyone," Pyrrha said.

"Guys come on," Jaune said. "I let you do your introductions."

Weiss's head hurt. These people were beginning to seem a little crazy.

* * *

These people were definitely crazy.

Well some of them. Ren seemed okay if quiet. She didn't think that he had said more than six words. Still she could work with that at least. She hadn't come to talk after all.

Pyrrha didn't seem that bad either. Despite her initial embarrassment over the cereal debacle she seemed the most willing to help her adjust to a new town. Apparently she had moved to Vale only last year to attend college so she knew how it felt. Still Weiss couldn't shake the feeling they had met before. It made her uneasy.

But not as uneasy as Blake. Blake wasn't crazy either but it was clear that she didn't really care for Weiss. It hadn't taken long for her to make excuses about studying for a test and leave. Much to the disappointment of Yang, Weiss had noted.

Everyone else was crazy though. Nora talked a mile a minutes as though compensating for her best friend's silence. Still it was at least useful. If she really focused, Weiss was able to pick up a fair bit of useful information about her new colleagues.

Ruby was the youngest at seventeen. Then there was Nora and Ren at eighteen like her, Jaune, Pyrrha and Blake at nineteen and Yang at twenty. Pyrrha and Blake were only part time while they went to college while everyone else was full time. Nora's favorite colour was pink.

Okay that last one probably wasn't that useful and it could apparently change by tomorrow.

Ren had said six words.

Yang, while technically not their boss, was widely accepted as their boss. Any days Weiss couldn't work, Yang would work into the rota and any problems in general were to be reported to her. Despite all this responsibility, she seemed to be the most carefree employee there. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

Jaune was a total dork. There no other way to describe him. He was no different from all the nerds that were good enough to talk to her in high school. Her stomach dropped out of her as she suddenly realised the truth. She was on the same level as those nerds from high school. She'd hit rock bottom.

And then there was Ruby. Weiss couldn't work her out. An unbridled ball of enthusiasm and curiosity, she couldn't figure out if it was more cute or exhausting. She supposed she would decide by the end of the shift.

Apparently it was Ruby, her and Yang for the rest of the day. She could probably handle that.

Nora, Jaune and Pyrrha said their goodbyes, leaving them alone. They had left their numbers, with Pyrrha saying if she needed anything just ask. It all seemed a touch dramatic for her tastes. They had just met and they worked in an ice cream store. Not like they were saving the world.

Then again, maybe it was just how they did things here.

"So?" Yang said, sitting down at one of the booths. "What do you think of everyone?"

Weiss hesitated. Her actual opinion probably wasn't wanted.

"They're... nice."

The two sisters just laughed.

"Yeah that's one way to describe them," Yang said smiling. "Ruby, why don't you go and show Weiss where the changing rooms are while I set up."

"Okay."

Practically jumping up, Ruby skipped towards the back of the shop. Suppressing a groan at the thought of the uniform, Weiss followed. Just get through the next few hours Weiss and then, you can go home.

Through the kitchen area and up some stairs, Ruby led her. Passing the bathrooms and a door that was apparently her dad's office they arrived in the changing room. Like everything else here, it wasn't very big but thankfully there was a separate one for the guys. At least she wouldn't have to put up with Jaune staring at her.

"We don't have lockers or anything but if you want you can just leave your uniform on the hangers here," Ruby said. "It's not like anyone is going to steal them."

She laughed and Weiss smiled thinly.

"Yes..."

This level of conversation was getting too much for her. How did they talk so much? It was exhausting just trying to keep up. Maybe that's why Blake never said anything, she thought hopefully. Doubtful though. Blake just didn't like her.

Looking around the room, Weiss frowned as she realised there were no cubicles. Where was she meant to get dressed? Was there another room Ruby hasn't shown her?

Her question was answered as she turned round to find her guide in the process of pulling off her shirt. Their eyes met for a second and Ruby grinned again, clearly misinterpreting Weiss' look of disgust for... anything else.

"You alright?"

"Yes, just great."

Reddening slightly at her companion's brazenness, Weiss turned back around. She opened her bag, pulling out the clothes and laid them down on the bench. Realising she couldn't delay any further, Weiss swallowed and started to get dressed.

* * *

"You look great Weiss," Yang said once she got back.

"Thanks," she said suspiciously. "Wait, how come yours is different than mine?"

"I prefer shorts. Blake and Pyrrha wear them too."

"That's not fair. Why didn't I get the choice?"

"Long story short," Yang grinned. "We ran out cause everyone chose shorts."

"Who cares," Ruby said. "The dresses are way better."

She held her hand up to Weiss.

"What are you doing?"

"It's... It's a high five." The two sisters stared at her in confusion. "You don't know that?"

"Umm..."

"How do you not know what high fives are?"

Weiss coughed nervously.

"So, shall we begin?"

"Okay..." Yang said still somewhat taken aback. "Before we start, any preference for work days?"

"No I can still work anytime."

"That's fine, I'll just slot you-" Yang paused. "Ruby, you aren't meant to be working today."

"Yeah I swapped with Blake."

"What? Why?"

"She wanted the day to study, plus you know how Blake can be with new people."

"Well that's going to be more work for me." Yang huffed. "Thanks sis."

"Yes that's why you are annoyed. Not that you aren't working with Blake-"

"Ruby!"

Yang's face went crimson and Weiss found herself smirking. Called it. Ruby continued to giggle at her sister's discomfort while Yang finished writing the rota. After a few moments she slammed the folder down.

"Right then," Yang said loudly. "Weiss you're with me up front so I can show you the ropes. Ruby, stock check."

"What?"

"I need a stock check," Yang grinned. "Remember to wear the gloves."

Grumbling about abusing authority, Ruby head out towards the back of the parlor. Turning back to a smiling Yang, Weiss asked.

"What's stock checking?"

"It's when you check the inventory to make sure nothing is broken or missing. Sucks cause it's in the walk in freezer and it can take an hour."

She shivered just at the thought.

"That sounds awful."

"It pretty much is," Yang said leading her to the counter. "Okay, the most important thing you need to know is how to scoop."

"Did you really just say that?"

Yang ignored her, setting up some sundae glasses.

"Okay let's start with these. They look complicated but it's actually fairly simple. I'll show you then you can have a go."

Weiss nodded. How hard could it be?

* * *

"Well," Yang said staring at the carnage that sat on the counter. "Your tubs are okay."

"That one's leaking," Weiss said. "I think I broke the glass."

"Not everyone's a natural... Though you did go a bit overboard with the sprinkles on that one."

Weiss glared at the rainbow mess. She couldn't even see the ice cream.

"The problem is you are going too fast."

"You told me to go as fast as I could."

"Yeah but I also told you to scoop the ice cream." Yang picked up a clump of ice cream from the counter. "Not repeatedly stab it out."

"You told me to go as fast as I could."

"Yeah but... Never mind, let's just take it slow."

Clearing the counter, Yang gingerly picked up Weiss attempts at a sundae. Dumping them on one side of the serving hatch, she turned back around to address her.

"If you are clearing tables, just stick any dishes up here and whoever is on dish washing will get it from the other side."

Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Yeah I kinda figured."

Yang raised an eyebrow.

"Are you giving me attitude?"

"No," she said quickly.

"That's what I thought," Yang said with a smile. "Now let's try again."

* * *

At three o'clock, Yang called it a day. Hopefully it wasn't because of how badly Weiss was doing but if she was honest, it was absolutely because of how bad she was. After smashing three glasses most people would have wanted a break. Weiss had broken seven.

And that wasn't even counting all the spillages and broken cones as well as the trays she had dropped. Weiss didn't want to think about how much she had cost the company in just three hours of training.

Apparently Yang had work to do and had let them away while she cleaned up the shop. She knew she probably should have stayed. Winter would probably have offered to help. Right now, Weiss couldn't bring herself to stay. She would only mess it up anyway.

Sitting on the bench outside, Weiss sighed. If she got a phone call from Yang tomorrow asking her not to come back, she wouldn't even be surprised. After today's showing, who could blame her?

"Okay I'm ready to go." Ruby appeared beside her, a cone of ice cream on each hand. "I got you lemon. Yang said you liked it."

"Thanks..."

"You're welcome. I thought we should celebrate your first day. You are now a proud member of Beacon."

"There's not a lot to celebrate," Weiss muttered. "I was terrible."

"No, you were great."

Weiss continued to stare at the ground.

"You're mocking me."

"Nope."

"You're patronizing me?"

"Nope."

"Then you have low standards."

"Probably," Ruby grinned. "But really you were fine."

"I couldn't have been worse."

"Weiss, I once spilled a tray of milkshakes over a customer."

Weiss winced.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she was also my teacher at the time." Ruby sighed. "That was a bad day."

"That was just one thing though."

"Jaune once dropped a box of new glasses."

"Yes but-"

"Nora nearly gave Ren a concussion throwing him a mug."

Weiss sighed.

"Do you have a point to this?"

"Everyone makes mistakes Weiss. It's was first day, cut yourself some slack. You'll get it soon." Ruby pulled a reluctant Weiss to her feet. "That's the Ruby Rose guarantee."

Sighing, Weiss sighed and started to follow her. Absentmindedly she took a lick of her ice cream. Surprisingly it actually tasted quite good.

"Wait, Rose?" she said as she realised what Ruby had said. "I thought you were Yang's sister."

"Half-sisters. Dad met my mum after Yang's left. Then they had me."

That explained why they looked nothing alike. Winter and her looked like twins speared by years. In contrast, Ruby and Yang were night and day.

"So Yang lives with your mom?" Weiss snorted. "She said it was complicated."

Ruby didn't say anything for a few moments.

"No it's... it's just the three of us. My Mom... She died a few years ago."

"Oh."

The sea water washed against pier underneath them, a welcome distraction from the awkwardness she had just created. Ruby's sunny demeanor had dropped entirely away leaving them in silence.

"My mom died when I was eight..."

She didn't know why she had said it. She never told anyone. Everyone found out eventually. The Schnees were too important for privacy and everyone always wanted to tell them how sorry they were.

By the time she entered high school, Weiss had learned how hollow the words usually were.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said. "I didn't mean to bring-"

"It's fine," she said shortly. "It was ten years ago. I'm over it."

Ruby smiled sadly at her.

"No you're not."

They walked in silence for a little while longer and Weiss was grateful for it. Ruby was wrong, she was over it. Ten years was a long time and Ruby just didn't realise yet that wounds could heal. It was sad, but she just didn't think about it...

Ruby stopped suddenly and Weiss nearly walked into her.

"Watch where-"

"This is me."

A short path split off from the pier, leading towards the main street. Weiss could probably follow it to get to home as well. It would take longer and she risked getting lost but she would have company for a little while longer...

"Well Ruby," she said, holding her hands behind her back formally. "It was a pleasure working with you today and I look forward to working- Wah"

Ruby jumped forward enveloping her in a hug.

"Bye Weiss. See you soon."

"Please remove yourself from me," Weiss said. "I am not a hugger."

Ruby unhooked herself from Weiss neck, laughing as she did so.

"That's what Blake said at first."

"Well I'm not her," Weiss huffed.

"Nope," Ruby grinned before her silver eyes widened. "Oh I almost forgot."

Taking off her backpack, Ruby rummaged around for a moment before pulling out her Scroll. It was an older model and it looked like it had taken a beating, with a chip on side and scratches on the glass.

"What's your number?" Ruby asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Your scroll number, so we can talk."

For a moment Weiss didn't do anything. It seemed rather sudden. After all, she had only known this girl for a few hours and Yang was probably going to phone her tonight telling her not to come back. What was the point in giving Ruby her number?

Still, she reasoned as she pulled out her own Scroll, it wasn't like there was any harm. It was probably a good idea to have contacts outside of Yang at Beacon. For work reasons only, of course.

"Oh my god." Ruby's eyes were like dinner plates. "That's the latest scroll model. I didn't even know that was out yet. Please can I see it? Please?"

Weiss cursed internally. Technically it wasn't out yet. She had been given it early due to her father's connection. It had been a month before she left and she hadn't thought about anyone recognizing it.

Reluctantly, Weiss handed it over and watched Ruby begin to fawn over it. It was strange, she hadn't thought it was that great but the younger girl was fascinated by it. The newest tech was just something she had always had. It wasn't really a big deal.

After a few moments, Ruby handed back the scroll her contact details added. The girl continued to stare longingly at the scroll and Weiss could only stand awkwardly not really sure how to leave.

"Umm... Ruby?"

"Huh? Oh right." Ruby smiled and started skipping away. "I'll see you soon."

Taken aback by the speed of the girl's mood change, Weiss barely had time to respond with a short.

"Wait-I mean good bye."

* * *

The sound of her scroll vibrating shook her from the daze that Weiss had settled into it. For a few seconds, she didn't recognize it, so long had it been since she had actually received a message from anyone.

Rolling over, she stared at it wondering who was messaging her. Winter was still out doing... something but it was rare for her sister to tell Weiss anything about where she went.

Could it be Ruby? She had only been home for a few hours so surely Ruby had no reason to suddenly text her. What could have happened in that time? Then again it did seem like a very Ruby thing to do.

Realising there was no point in just guessing, Weiss picked up her scroll, reading the unknown number displayed.

Hey Weiss it's Yang

Well that answered that.

Sorry about being kinda short with you today. I had something else that was pissing me off. Really sorry about that but honestly for your first day you did fine.

Weiss groaned. Clearly Ruby had felt bad enough about her to tell her sister. God she must seem so pathetic.

Anyway can you come in Tuesday around 6:30 and we'll see how you manage a morning shift. I won't be there but Pyrrha can show you the ropes. She'll probably be better than me at it anyway.

Well, at least she wasn't fired yet. That was good. Though a 6:30 morning shift sounded torturous... Who was she kidding; she wasn't good enough to take any good shifts.

The door to the apartment opened and she heard her sister call for her.

"Weiss?"

"One minute."

Great, now she was going to have to relive her embarrassing mistakes to Winter who would no doubt revel in every detail. That was going to be just wonderful.

Sighing, she typed out a response telling Yang she would be there. If she couldn't be a good employee, she could at least be a reliable one.

Bracing herself for her sisters onslaught, Weiss headed into the lounge.

* * *

Jaune- "Hey Ren"

Ren - "Sup"

Jaune - "Oh you know, nothing much..."

Jaune - "So I heard the new girl is working Tuesday."

Jaune - "We should really spread out who is working with her."

Jaune - "You know, so that she can get to know everyone."

Ren - "That makes sense."

Jaune - "So can you switch with me?"

Ren - "But I haven't worked with her either..."

Jaune - "..."

Jaune - "Switch with me or I'll tell Nora that you swapped her sun screen with your weird natural stuff to prove a point and that's why she got sun burnt last week.

Ren - "I'll text Yang."


	3. Chapter 3

Weiss was beginning to regret her decision to get to work early. Waking up with enough time so that she could get ready and arrive for 6:40 had been bad enough but realising she had no way to get in until someone else arrived was soul crushing.

Typical Weiss, she thought bitterly. Never thinking things through.

Shivering in the cold, she wrapped her snowpea coat closer to herself, whining in frustration. For a town so hot during the day, Vale was freezing without its sun. Damn sea winds just cutting across her.

"Hello," a voice called out to her. "Can I hel- Oh hello Weiss."

Weiss turned to find the burning red hair of Pyrrha walking towards her. The girl smiled at her as she approached, seemingly unaffected by the cold or perhaps just used to it.

"Hi."

"You are a bit early. Most of the others don't get here until seven if they can avoid it."

"Well," she said, painting a false smile. "I like to be punctual."

The flame haired woman laughed and suddenly Weiss could see why she had been in commercials. Beauty, grace and kindness, the type of person most people would just adore. Pretty much the opposite of a Schnee.

Apart from the beauty and grace obviously. Weiss never claimed to be modest.

"That's good to know," Pyrrha replied. "It will be nice to have someone who takes work a little more seriously."

A little fiddling at the door and then Pyrrha let her inside. It wasn't much better than outside to be honest but just being out of the wind was a mercy.

Light flooded into the room nearly blinding her and she let out a yelp of surprise.

"Oops sorry."

"It's fine," Weiss muttered blinking rapidly. "A little warning would have been nice though."

"I'll try to remember that."

Weiss glared at the back of Pyrrha's head as the latter fumbled in the cupboards. She could tell when she was being mocked.

"The rest of the keys are kept up here if you are ever here first. Mr Xiao Long will probably get you a front door key soon. Or Yang will."

"Can't wait."

"Let's go get changed and then I can make us some coffee before we get set up."

Pyrrha smiled, leading her up to changing rooms.

And of course, Pyrrha had a perfect body. Another surge of jealousy ran through Weiss. Was there anything this girl didn't have? She probably attended rallies and fundraised on the weekends.

She hated that. The falseness of it all. Those types of people acted so perfectly because deep down they weren't. Pyrrha had to have some flaws, she just needed to find them.

"Once you finish up, just come down and I'll show you how the coffee machine works," Pyrrha said as she finished getting dressed. "Okay?"

"Okay."

The moment Pyrrha was gone, Weiss let her smile drop. She already knew this was going to be a long day. She sighed. It seemed to be her default here. Deciding she had probably lingered too long, Weiss opened the door and walked out.

Right into the path of Jaune Arc.

"Watch where-"

"Oh sorry, Weiss." Jaune smiled at her, making her stomach curl. "I guess I didn't see you."

"How could you not see me?"

"I don't know," he said with a smirk. "I must have gotten lost in your eyes."

Weiss just stared at him.

"What?"

"Umm..." His smirk vanished under her icy glare. "I better get changed."

He vanished into the changing room and Weiss let out a groan of disgust. Well that was just perfect. Another thing she had to deal with.

Weiss found Pyrrha downstairs trying to fix her hair in the reflection of the glass. Why hadn't she done that before? She jumped as Weiss approached her, spinning around those caught doing something she shouldn't.

"Oh Weiss, you're here... Jaune just arrived."

"I know," she grimaced. "He tried flirting with me in the hallway."

"Really..."

"Yeah. He will stop right?"

"One can hope," Pyrrha put on a smile. "So, coffee?"

"Please."

* * *

Halfway through the drink, Weiss felt her scroll vibrate. Frowning, she opened it, wondering who could possibly be messaging her at this time. Winter would be up, but there wasn't a chance in hell it was her.

 _Good luck on your second day_

 _Did you really get up just to message me that?_

 _Yep_

 _Going back to bed now_

Weiss rolled her eyes, trying to suppress a smile. What a dolt.

Ruby had messaged her a few times over the weekend and Weiss had to admit, it had been nice to have someone to talk to again. Winter was great but she had always been kinda stoic. It used to be a lot worse, but even now most conversations were what needed to be said. Nothing more and nothing less.

Ruby was almost the opposite, her messages long and rambling. The girl could talk about anything, it was almost exhausting. One of the days, Weiss had ignored her for hours and when she finally messaged back, Ruby's reply had been near instant. Her enthusiasm could not be deterred.

"Who're you texting?"

Jaune had joined them by this point, thankfully easing up on his flirting. Pyrrha had quickly made him a cup as well and now Weiss realised they were both staring at her. Taking the hint, she slid her scroll away.

"Ruby," she answered. "She wanted to wish me good luck."

Jaune laughed.

"That sounds like her. The first time I sat my driving test, she made me cookies for a week."

"You passed?" she said.

"Well not that time."

"That makes far more sense."

"Hey!"

"Anyway," Pyrrha said clearing her throat. "We better get started. We open in thirty minutes."

"Really, we're not that late are we?" Jaune said.

"Jaune this happens every time you do morning shifts..." Pyrrha sighed. "I can't keep covering for you."

"Oh you love it really," Jaune said as he headed towards the kitchen. "What are friends for?"

"What are friends for..." Pyrrha said quietly.

Weiss resisted a smile as she followed the not so invincible girl into the kitchen. She had found her weak spot. A very pathetic weak spot no doubt, but a weak spot none the less.

* * *

Turns out set up wasn't that hard. It mostly just involved moving food and cartons around and then cleaning the tables. Again. It wasn't like they were cleaned last night but whatever.

Pyrrha kept her out front sending Jaune into the kitchen to clean up there. Cleaning was apparently a big thing here. She wondered if Yang was that bad when she was in charge or if Pyrrha was just a neat freak. She was starting to stink of disinfectant.

Then they came to the thing that Weiss had been dreading. The coffee machine.

"Have you ever used one of these before?" Pyrrha asked. Weiss shook her head. "Well it's fairly simple, I'm sure you get the hang of it quickly."

It started simple. Black coffee was easy enough. Hot chocolate didn't seem so bad. Tea was just a hot water button. Then Pyrrha started talking about something that had eighteen syllables long and Weiss started to lose confidence.

Obviously it started to show on her face as Pyrrha toned it down a bit.

"But most people who come are going into work and just want simple coffee," she said, smiling reassuringly. "And if you are having trouble, Jaune and I- well I'll be right here."

"What wrong with Jaune?" Weiss said leaning forward. Finally something interesting.

"Oh nothing really. He can just be a little... clumsy sometimes."

Maybe she and Jaune were meant for each other. The thought depressed her beyond measure.

"I guess I'll just get you then."

"Probably best," Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Wow, thanks Pyrrha."

The two girls whipped their heads to the side to see Jaune standing on the other side of the service hatch, looking slightly offended. Pyrrhas eyes widened as she quickly tried to backtrack.

"I didn't mean it like that-"

"Way to kick a man while he's down..."

"You're vital to our team and-"

Jaune laughed.

"It's fine Pyrrha," he said as Pyrrha relaxed. "I realise that I'm pretty much on the bottom of our pecking order. Apart from Weiss obviously."

"Hey."

"Relax, it was just a joke seeing as you're new and all," he said holding up his hands defensively. "You should loosen up Ice Queen."

"Ice Queen!"

* * *

Pyrrha kept them separate after that, claiming it was for Jaune's health. Definitely nothing to do with how he wouldn't stop with the nicknames he thought were cute. She half considered accepting one of them just to see the look on Pyrrha's face.

But considering Weiss desperately needed the older girl help to get through the shift, antagonizing her probably wasn't the best idea, no matter how fun it might be. Save that button for another day.

"Black coffee to go Weiss."

"Okay," she called back to Pyrrha.

Swallowing, she stared at the coffee machine. When it had been explained to her, it had seemed so simple. Now though, with the shop open and actual people relying on her to get it right, it seemed like a nuclear reactor.

A minute later she handed over the cup to Pyrrha nervously. Taking a moment to make sure it was right, Pyrrha passed it to the customer smiling.

"Have a nice day."

A murmur of thanks and a clang of change hitting the tip jar. Then they were left alone and Weiss realised she had let out a sigh of relief.

Pyrrha suppressed a laugh, covering her mouth as Weiss reddened.

"Jaune's right, you do need to loosen up."

"I do not."

"If you say so. But really you are doing fine. You got the last few orders perfect."

A surge of pride ran through her, despite the mediocrity of the task.

"Naturally."

An odd look flickered across Pyrrha's face but vanished just as quickly.

"Right... Anyway, do you want to try the till for a while?"

"Umm."

Her confidence vanished but Pyrrha had already pulled her over.

"Don't worry, it's easy enough. Just plugging in numbers." Pyrrha paused. "How's your maths?"

She scoffed. Her schooling was top of the line and her father had only accepted perfection. The schools in this town barely qualified as schools next to hers.

"I'm sure I'll manage."

"Great," Pyrrha smiled. "I'll get you set up."

It took a second for Weiss to realise what had happened but by that time, all she could do was scowl.

"Customer face Weiss."

* * *

Fortunately, Pyrrha was right. The till was pretty much just maths with the hardest part was plugging in the correct order. The rest was just counting change and acting polite. A life time of Schnee Events and Parties had trained her for that. The act came naturally.

Unfortunately, Pyrrha had to go deal with ordering stock for the next two weeks and that left her working with Jaune.

"So Weiss Schnee huh," he said, his fourth attempt to start a conversation.

"Yes."

"Schnee like the Dust company." Weiss froze at the mention of the family name, but Jaune didn't seem to notice. "I'm sorry; you must get that a lot."

"Less than you would think," she muttered relaxing somewhat.

Winter had been right. There was no reason that an actual Schnee would be working in a place like this. They all just thought her name was a coincidence. No one would no unless she told them. And that was not happening anytime soon.

"How about snow?"

"What?"

"Well, Schnee means 'snow' right." He suddenly seemed less certain. "Right."

"Correct," she said before dropping into a sultry tone. "And might I say, your grasp of language is breathtaking."

"Really?"

"No."

Jaune sighed in disappointment.

"One day I will melt your icy heart Snow Angel."

Her eyes flared up in anger at the pet name. Turning around, she rounded on Jaune pushing him against the counter.

"Never call me that again," she hissed.

 _Weiss lay on the bench, her head resting on her boyfriend's lap. She sighed, content as his fingers ran through her hair._

 _Father would be annoyed no doubt, to find his daughter and 'perfect' heir skipping school to spend time with her new group of friends. Not that she cared. With Winter gone, she was all he had left._

 _Her life was going to be shit anyway, why not spend what remaining freedom she had having fun?_

 _"Aren't you two just adorable," a voice said dripping with sarcasm._

 _Cracking open her eyes, Weiss looked up to see familiar green hair matched by the near constant scowl._

 _"Hey Emerald," Mercury said. "A pleasure to see you too."_

 _"It would be a pleasure," Emerald said. "If you both didn't make me want to vomit just looking at your... affection."_

 _"Emerald, jealousy does not become you."_

 _"I don't know," Weiss smirked. "Green was always her colour."_

 _Mercury laughed loudly as Emerald just scowled._

 _"Great, now there's two of you." Emerald sighed. "Can we just go?" I don't want to keep Cinder waiting."_

 _"I bet you don't," she said earning another smirk from Mercury._

 _Her face flushing pink, Emerald stomped away, muttering obscenities under her breath._

 _"Sometimes it's just too easy." Mercury said running his hand along her leg. "We should probably go though."_

 _"Mhmm," Weiss moaned in protest as they stood up. Then their lips were together and suddenly she didn't care._

 _Mercury broke the kiss as quickly as he had started._

 _"What we're you saying?" He said, smirking at her blush._

 _"Shut up."_

 _Turning to follow Emerald she heard Mercury laugh before saying._

 _"Lead on Snow Angel."_

 _Giggling at her pet name, Weiss skipped forward._

"Weiss... Weiss!"

A hand waving in front of her face, snapped her out of the memories. Jaune was looking at her slightly unnerved.

"Are you alright? And if so, can you let me go?"

Complying, Weiss turned away, focusing back on the till.

"I'm fine, just... don't call me that."

"Okay okay," he said backing up slightly. "...Wanna talk about it?"

He was saved from another onslaught by the arrival of a customer.

"Excuse me young lady."

"What?" She snapped before realising what she had said. "I mean, sorry how can I help you?"

If the man with glasses was at all taken aback by her sudden outburst, he didn't show, starting his order without skipping a beat.

"Right then, I will have the-"

And that's as far as Weiss got with the order. The man spoke a mile a minute. For every second that passed, the man said eight words and Weiss understood about half of them. She could speak three languages and what he was saying didn't make sense in any of them

Then there was the very specific times that the water was to be boiled for. The exact amount of milk in milliliters. How many spoons of coffee grinds as well as the order they were to be added. Coffee then sugar, then coffee then cream then coffee again.

Judging by Jaune's reaction, he understood it as well as she was.

"Did you get all that?" the man said and she suddenly realised he had stopped

Weiss blinked.

"Umm… yes?"

"Excellent," he said pushing up his glasses. "I'll be waiting."

Weiss and Jaune retreated to the coffee machine.

"You've got this right," Jaune whispered.

"What? No."

"But you said you did. Why did you say that?"

"I panicked," she whispered furiously. "You've been here longer, you do it."

"What? No. I'm terrible at coffee."

"This is a cafe."

"Technically it's a parlor." They glared at each other. "Rock Paper Scissors for it."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Are you serious?" Jaune glanced over to the till, before pulling out a coin. "Alright just flip for it. Call it."

"Heads."

The coin flipped up into the air before falling back down revealing its treacherous face.

Tails.

"Dammit." Weiss looked up hopefully. "Best two out of three?"

The customer coughed and Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm going to miss you Weiss."

And then he retreated back into the kitchen, followed by her furious whispers.

"This is why you're alone."

She turned back to the coffee machine hoping to see a button that said explode. That just might be enough to get her out of this.

There was no such button.

With a whine of defeat, Weiss shakily reached for a cup.

* * *

"Here you go...I think" Weiss said hesitantly handing over the cup. "Enjoy."

The man stared down at his drink before snatching it out her hands.

"Young lady, are you sure you followed my instructions to the letter?"

"Umm... Yes."

"Hmm."

Then he was gone, practically leaving in a pile of dust. Exhausted, Weiss slid onto the counter with a moan on displeasure. How much longer was her shift?

"Wait wait wait."

She turned around to find Pyrrha running towards her.

"Pyrrha," she said confused. "What's wrong?"

"Have you given the doctor his order?"

"Yes he just paid," she huffed. "Didn't even tip."

"Oh," Pyrrha's face paled. "You should have come and got me."

Weiss scoffed.

"Pyrrha, it's coffee. What's the worst that-"

"You there!"

Weiss nearly shrieked as the man reappeared suddenly. Pyrrha's eyes widened as she quickly tried to recover the situation.

"Doctor Oobleck I am so sorry for the mix up. Weiss is new and didn't know that you are very specific with your order and-"

She was promptly ignored as the man continued his rant.

"Young lady did you really think that I would not notice what you did?"

"I- I…"

"It is clear that you decreased the ratio of cream to coffee as well as only crushing the beans to two-thirds the required amount. Furthermore I do believe that you swapped out the requested pecan nut topping for an almond one. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"Doctor, I can only apologize and if you can just wait-"

"Genius!"

Weiss and Pyrrha blinked.

"I'm sorry?"

"By crushing the beans to a lesser extent you allowed for the caffeine to breakdown slower in my body keeping me energized for longer. This technique provides less flavour from the coffee but you thought to compensate by changing the ratio ensuring the dairy did not become overpowering."

The professor continued to ramble as Pyrrha turned to stare at Weiss.

"And just last night, a study was released stating that pecan nuts decrease hand eye coordination by up to zero point eight percent. Extraordinary work young lady."

With that, he slammed what looked like a twenty into the tip jar and vanished. Pyrrha just continued to stare at her in disbelief.

"What?" Weiss said, flicking her hair casually. "You didn't know that?"

* * *

Nora's arrival at one signalled her freedom and the end of the shift. Well technically, Nora was replacing Pyrrha and Blake was replacing her. But apparently Blake could be a little late on Tuesdays so Pyrrha just told her they could go.

"Jaune says goodbye," Pyrrha said as they were getting changed. "And he is sorry for the Oobleck incident."

"As he should be," she huffed. "If I wasn't so brilliant who knows what could have happened."

"Oh he's not so bad."

Weiss rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. Pyrrha had been too good to her today to hear any of the things she had to say about Jaune. Honestly, Pyrrha was way too good looking for someone like him. She could do way better. What did she see in him?

"So," Pyrrha said. "Got any plans for the rest of the day?"

"No. Winter's working late so I'll just be home alone."

"Winter?"

"My older sister. She works at Atlas."

"Winter Snow and White Snow." Pyrrha laughed. "Sounds like something Yang would name her children."

"Better than Pyrrha Nikos," Weiss said. "A bit morbid isn't it."

"Only a little," Pyrrha said. "You might be the only one here who knows what it means. Apart from Blake."

"Not surprising," she said, ignoring the mention of the other girl. "What about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Plans?"

"Oh nothing exciting. Just a few classes." She checked her watch. "Speaking of which, I had better go. I'll text Yang later and she'll let you know when you are next working. You did good today."

"Thanks." For the first time, the compliment actually felt earned. "I'll see you later."

"Goodbye."

Pyrrha rushed to leave, opening the door and almost running into someone.

"Oh I'm so sorry."

"It's fine Pyrrha," Blake said. "No harm no-"

The black haired girl stopped talking as she realised they weren't alone. Pyrrha was already gone, obviously not noticing the tension that had suddenly skyrocketed.

"Oh you're here."

"I was just leaving," Weiss said picking up her bag and exiting to escape the glare that Blake shot at her. What was her problem? Their relationship was deteriorating without Weiss even having to talk to her. A cold feeling washed over her as she excited the parlor.

Could Blake know who she was?

* * *

Her scroll buzzed in her pocket. Taking it out, she saw the expected contact displayed.

 _Ruby Rose._

 _Hey, how was work?_

 _Fine_ she replied. _Apart from Jaune._

It didn't take long to get a reply.

 _What did he do?_

 _He just won't stop flirting. It's just sad._

Weiss paused over the key pad, wondering if it was right for her to say what she was thinking. Probably not.

 _Especially with Pyrrha right there._

Whoops.

Still, it would probably be good to know who actually knew about Pyrrha's infatuation. She didn't want to blab to the wrong person. Not by accident anyway.

 _Oh. So you noticed that._

 _Yeah you would have to be an idiot not to._

 _Jaune doesn't._

 _I stand by my statement._

 _Weiss that's awful._

She smirked at the response.

 _Admit it, you're laughing a little._

 _I am not._

As though to prove her point, Ruby sent through a photo of herself, a stern look forced across it. It wasn't very convincing. Though to be honest, Weiss couldn't imagine what it would take to get Ruby actually angry. Lying in bed wearing her pajamas didn't help the look either.

Wait a minute.

Furiously she typed a response.

 _Are you just waking up now?_

This time there was a long pause.

 _Umm... no?_

She couldn't believe it.

 _I've been up since six and you have just woken up now!_

 _Hey I woke up at 7._

Weiss waited. A moment later...

 _I just fell asleep again..._

Weiss glared at her scroll and Ruby's pitiful excuse. A dozen or so replies ran through her head. Each of them crueler than the last. She could imagine saying that and hearing Mercury's laugh or Cinder's smirk of approval. Things she had used to crave.

The scroll buzzed again.

 _Don't know if anyone told you but Beacon is closed on Thursday._

That was news to her. Why hadn't Pyrrha told her? She had thought the older girl was starting to like her. Perhaps she had been mistaken.

 _Why?_

 _Dad's out of town so we can't open. If anything goes wrong he needs to be able to come in._

 _Anyway, we were all going to hang out at the beach. You should come._

Weiss blinked as she reread the message. It had been so long since she had been invited to do anything with anyone. It almost felt like a trick. She would arrive to find no one there or something else equally as cruel.

No, she told herself. That was something she would have done.

She couldn't speak for the others but neither Pyrrha or Ruby seemed like people capable of doing something like that. But still...

Hesitantly, she typed out a response.

 _Do the others even want me there?_

Her fingers hovered over the send for a few moments before she deleted the text.

 _Sure, I'll be there._

* * *

Yang- "Hey Pyrrha"

Yang - "Pyrrha"

Yang - "PYRRHA ANSWER YOUR SCROLL"

Pyrrha - "Yang I'm in class"

Yang - "And?"

Pyrrha - "And the lecturer is already annoyed at me for being late"

Yang - "Oh."

Yang - "You probably shouldn't be texting then..."

Pyrrha - "*sigh"

Pyrrha - "What do you want Yang?"

Yang - "Nah it's fine. I'll talk later. Don't want you getting in trouble"

Yang - "You might get a lecture. :D"

Yang - "..."

Yang - "Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha - "Miss Nikos will get her scroll back at the end of class. In the meantime, can you please refrain from constantly distracting my students?

Yang - "Soz"

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **A few of you have been asking about pairings since the summary doesn't show anything about romance and no pairings are tagged.**

 **That is because they are not a primary focus of this story, not because they aren't a part of it. The primary focus is on Weiss and her reactions to these relationships are as important as the relationship itself. More so in some cases.**

 **You can probably guess some of them but if you want to know, ask and I'll message so I don't spoil the plot for those who don't want spoilers.**

 **Thanks for reading**


	4. Chapter 4

When Weiss had ran for her father, she had done so with one bag and the money in her pocket. That accounted for about four outfits none of which were appropriate for the beach. She hadn't brought any of her bathing suits either.

The outfits were laid out on her bed. Two pairs of jeans. A skirt three tops and the dress she had been wearing when she ran. Hell the best thing she had was probably her work uniform. And obviously that was out of the question.

Letting out a groan, Weiss glared at her clothes. She could maybe make the jeans work. Not ideal with the sand. A year ago she would have had a dozen outfits that would have been great. Even then she would have still bought another.

The door opens to her room and Winter walked in, frowning at the sight.

"What are you doing Weiss?"

"Winter," she squeaked. "Knock please."

"My home," Winter replied. "Why aren't you dressed? It's past one."

Flushing slightly, she folded her arms to cover herself. Failing to come up with an excuse, the younger Schnee simply opted to deflect.

"Why are you back so early anyway? Shouldn't you be at work?"

"We got finished early so got a longer lunch. I was going to take you out to celebrate your job but instead I come home to be accosted by my half naked baby sist-" Winter turned pale, even for a Schnee. "Please tell me no one else is here?"

"Winter! I-I. How can you say that."

"What am I supposed to think, after what you told me about Mercury and the other on-"

Winter stopped at the sight of Weiss's glare.

"I told you never to mention him again."

"I'm sorry. It's just..."

Winter looked like she wanted to say more. But as usual her walls remained up. Even four years away from their father hadn't taken those away.

"Never mind, what are you doing then?"

Dammit. Weiss had been hoping that she might have managed to avoid the topic but Winters eyes had already moved over to the bed.

"If you must know," she said. "I have plans for tomorrow."

"Who with. Work colleagues?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"The beach."

"What time? How late?"

Weiss groaned internally. Why must her sister make everything an interrogation?

"I don't know, Ruby didn't say."

"Ruby?"

"Winter, I do not have time for the third degree. I need an outfit and as you can," she gestured to the bed. "I have nothing to wear."

"I didn't realise people actually said that."

"Winter!"

"Okay okay." Winter rolled her eyes. "Get dressed then."

"I can't go to lunch. This is an emergency."

"Not lunch. Shopping."

Weiss perked up.

"You'll buy me an outfit?"

"Yes-" Weiss felt her heart soar. "-and then you can pay me back when you get your first pay check."

She could work with that.

* * *

Ruby and Yang weren't there when she arrived. Nervously, she looked around. It was definitely the place she had left Ruby when they had walked home from walk.

Checking her scroll, she forced herself to relax. Technically she was still early by five minutes and they didn't exactly strike her as the most punctual people. Ruby had said three-ish.

Sitting down on a bench, Weiss thumbed over her scroll, half wanting to send a message. Probably best not to. She didn't want to come across overbearing.

Looking down, she realised she had typed out half the message already. Putting her scroll in her bag for safety, Weiss gripped the bench tightly. What was taking them so long?

"Weeeiiissss."

Weiss smiled at the sound, looking up to see the two sisters approaching. Ruby waved skipping forward to greet her. Yang kept her pace carrying a large bag with her.

"Good afternoon Rub-," she said before the girl slammed into her. "Ruby. I told you I'm not a hugger."

"But it's been so long," said Ruby's muffled voice.

"It's been a week since we met."

"So long."

"Let go of me you dolt."

She finally managed to untangle herself from the girl to find Yang standing there, an amused look on her face.

"Thanks for the help," she muttered. "It's really appreciated."

"You look like you had it handed." Yang grinned. "Nice dress by the way."

"Thanks," she said, trying not to sound relieved.

It had taken a while for her to eventually pick an outfit, with Winter having to leave to go back to work before she finished. She had left money to pay for it so it wasn't all bad.

After another hour Weiss had eventually settled on a white sun dress and flip flops before spending the rest on a swim suit and sun glasses. Practically a bargain. Overall, she had thought she had done it very cheaply.

Winters face when she hadn't gotten change told her otherwise. It was her sisters own fault though. She should have been more specific.

"So," Weiss said. "Where to?"

"Not far," Ruby said. "Just follow us."

Well that was helpful.

Dutifully, she followed on after the two sisters as they headed down the pier. The two of them continued their conversation with Weiss mostly staying quiet. They seemed to be arguing about the merits of a game she hadn't even heard of. There wasn't a lot for her to add.

After about five minutes, Yang must have realised this, changing the conversation with a cough.

"So Weiss, how are you enjoying Vale?"

"It's been lovely," she said automatically. "Though I have yet to see most of it?"

"Yeah it's pretty great," Ruby said. "It can be kinda quiet though."

"It's what you make of it sis," Yang said. "I'm never board."

"Easy for you to say, you have a bike-"

"Ahh Bumblebee."

Ruby rolled her eyes at her sister before continuing.

"-I can only go where I can walk or if dad will drive me."

"Then get a bike."

"Oh yeah, like I can afford that." Ruby sighed before turning back to Weiss. "Is your sister like this?"

"No, Winter is more..."

Weiss paused. What was Winter like?

Two months with Winter mostly working hadn't given her a lot of time with her sister. They had talked a little when she had first arrived but all Weiss could say was that she was very different from when she had left.

Their father had taken the trial and error approach to parenting. Winter had been drilled and pushed to perfection. Tutors had been called into ensure she received the best possible education and Winter was damn near a genius.

But it had left her cold to most people, her social skills non existent and no emotional connections to anyone. Weiss couldn't remember her having any friends. Hell she could count on one hand, Winter had been there for her before she had left.

They hadn't made the same mistake with Weiss, sending her to private school to ensure a proper education, without compromising the social skills that would be vital to maintaining proper business connections.

Now though, Winter was different. The four years away from their father had chipped at the walls she had built up. It wasn't perfect and sometimes it still felt like Winter kept her at arms length. It was better in private but in public, if they didn't look so similar, no one would guess they were related.

Yang and Ruby were still waiting for an answer. So was she but Weiss could play it safe.

"Winter is like me," she said. "But stricter."

"How much older is she than you," Ruby asked.

"She's twenty four."

"Really," Yang said. "I would have thought she was much older considering she looks after you."

"She doesn't look after me. We just live together."

"Because of your complicated parents?"

Weiss clenched her fists.

"Yes."

"We're here," Ruby said quickly. "Beach time."

At least the younger girl hadn't told everyone about her mom. Weiss had been stupid to tell her so quickly. A moment of weakness based on a simple connection. No a simple coincidence. Never again. She regretted even mentioning in the interview.

They walked off the pier down a ramp and onto the sand. It was warmer than Weiss had expected, sliding on her flip flops and between her toes. It was quite pleasant. It had been so long since she had been in the sand.

"Yoo Hoo!"

Weiss looked up to see the ginger girl waving at them from a little further down the beach. She could just make out what looked like Pyrrha, Jaune and the other boy. Wait, what was his name? Crap, what was the gingers name?

"Hey Nora," Yang yelled, uncaring that half the beach were now staring at them.

Though Yang was a master of subtly compared to Ruby who had taken to sprinting across the beach to reach her friends, spraying sand as she ran. Thankfully, Yang was content to walk meaning the heiress wasn't forced to walk alone. No way in hell was she running.

"Hey guys," Yang said as they arrived. "How's it going?"

"Did you bring it?" Nora said ignoring the question completely.

"Yes Nora," Yang sighed. "You remember Weiss?"

"Hi."

"Hey," Nora said without skipping a beat. "Now gimme."

"Later," Yang said. "Can't drink for the first hour, you know the rules."

Tiring of the two girls, Weiss turned her attention the rest of the group wondering where to sit.

Pyrrha was the obvious choice. The most mature and easy to talk to but didn't require constant attention. However because of her stupid infatuation the red head had positioned herself rather close to Jaune. Sitting with Pyrrha meant sitting with Jaune. Not an option.

Ren and Nora were possible. Ren seemed quiet enough that she would mostly be left alone if she wanted it. Nora not so much, but then again Weiss was going to have to get to know her. Energetic didn't mean bad...

She took the safe bet, walking over to where Ruby had sat down. The girl smiled at her. Weiss smiled her false smile back automatically, spreading out her towel to lay on. Pulling off her dress to reveal her bathing suit, Weiss settled down to sun bathe.

A few moments later, a shadow passed over her.

"Hey Weiss," Nora said.

Apparently she had given up on the drinks for the moment.

"Yes?"

"Where are you from?"

"Mantle."

"And did they have a sun there?"

"Nora," Ren said shaking his head, but the others just laughed.

Weiss scowled.

"And what's do you mean by that."

"Well for one you are as pale as blank paper," Nora said smirking. "And you don't have sun screen on."

"Oh crap," Ruby said, diving into her bad. "I just kind assumed you would bring some... Sorry."

Hidden behind her sunglasses, Weiss rolled her eyes. How would she possibly know to bring that? Why hadn't Winter told her? She had been here for years.

"Hey Ren," Nora shouted. "You got any of your weird organic sun cream. Weiss needs something."

Ren and Jaune shared a glance.

"Maybe she should use yours..."

"I'll be fine," Weiss said. "Really."

"You really won't," Pyrrha said concerned. "Sun burn can be serious. Yang didn't you bring any?"

"Nope sorry that was Ruby's job." Yang shrugged. "I was in charge of the drinks. Priorities."

"Found it."

Ruby triumphantly held the bottom over her head, grinning broadly like it was some trophy. Weiss raised her eyebrow at her.

"Thanks."

"You are welco- Oh hey Blake."

Weiss looked up to see the black haired girl approaching a small smile on her face at the sight on her friends. The first one that Weiss had seen on her.

The smile vanished as her eyes moved over to where Weiss sat.

"Oh," she said. "I didn't realise you were coming."

What was this girls problem?

"Is that a problem?"

"Of course not. Just surprised is all."

The entire group has fallen into an awkward silence. No one wanting to be one to draw attention to themselves and accidentally attract the girls ire.

Finally Pyrrha took the the bullet.

"So Blake," she said. "Is Sun not joining us?"

The smile returned as Blake turned her attention away from Weiss. Breathing a silent sigh of feeling, Weiss started to apply the sun cream. She didn't know why Blake hated her so much, but it probably wasn't best to push her luck. If it came down to an argument, she doubted anyone would side with her over Blake. Then her ass would be out of Beacon.

"He has to finish work," Blake said. "But he says he'll come later."

"It'll be nice to see him again."

"Yeah," Yang said, as she cracked open a can. "Just great."

"We drinking?" Nora said, eye widening in glee.

"Wait till five."

The ginger flipped her off.

* * *

Ten minutes of haggling later, Nora appeared to give up and Weiss was able to settle into sun bathing. It was nice and Weiss was amazed that it was so peaceful. Despite the weather there were very few people here. Even the few that had been there when they had arrived were dispersing.

Rolling over to ask someone why it was, she found herself looking up at Ren. She blinked taken aback that Ruby had somehow vanished when she wasn't looking. For a few moments the two stared at each other.

"Umm," Ren said. "Do you need something?"

"No I just-" Weiss stopped. She was going to have to talk to him eventually. Might as well start now. "I was just wondering how it could be so quiet."

Ren shrugged.

"It's a Thursday."

"That's it?"

"Most people work or have school."

That made a sort of sense but still it seemed strange. If she had something like this in Mantle, Weiss would probably have never went to school.

"I suppose..."

She looked around, trying to think of a way to continue the conversation but the boy really wasn't giving her much to work with. It was always hard trying to be polite to quiet people.

"Hey," Nora shouted, saving her from the awkwardness. "Anyone wanna play volleyball?"

"Yeah," Ruby said. "Dibs team captain."

"Vetoed," Yang said. "Pyrrha and I are always captains."

"No fair."

This seemed like a bad idea. Sitting on the sand, there were very few ways to embarrass herself, but committing to volleyball...

Unfortunately, everyone else seemed interested with Yang and Pyrrha already tossing a coin to determine first pick. A growl of annoyance from Yang later and Pyrrha wasn't picking first.

"Come on Weiss," Ruby said. "You know how to play right?"

No she did not know how to play. She came from a landlocked city that could get up to a foot of snow in the winter.

"You know, maybe I should just- wah."

Ruby cut her off pulling her to her feet with an undignified squeak. Embarrassed she looked over to see Blake smirking at her, clearly enjoying her discomfort.

"Ruby I really don't know if this is-"

"You have to," Ruby said cheerfully. "We need you to even up the teams."

"But-"

"Okay then," Yang said. "Let's get this started. Pick someone Pyrrha."

"Jaune."

"Ahh the classic pity pick."

"Hey."

"Face it Jaune, you suck at this." Yang smirked. "I pick Blake."

"Ruby."

"Ren."

"No-" Pyrrha began before stopping. "Actually, Weiss."

Great, she had been picked out of pity. Back in Mantle, people would have climbing over each other for a chance to get close to Weiss Schnee.

"And that gives us Nora." Yang sighed. "The wild card."

"What's wrong with Nora?" She asked as she joined Ruby.

"She packs a punch," Ruby said with a smile. "But no accuracy. If you can, let Pyrrha return her shots."

A surge of annoyance swelled within her.

"I'm sure I can handle it."

"I thought that once," Jaune said as he passed. "She nearly broke my nose. Trust me, Ice Queen, winning isn't worth it."

"Winning is everything," she glared at him. "And don't call me Ice Queen."

 _Thunk_

The volleyball hit the ground between them and Weiss let out a squeak of shock.

"That's a point to us," Yang yelled out with a grin.

"Hey that's not fair," Weiss said. "We weren't ready."

"Should have been ready then Ice Queen."

The rest of Yangs team laughed as Weiss fumed.

"This is not becoming a nick name."

"I'm afraid we might be a little past that," Pyrrha said apologetically.

Turning slowly around, she glared at Jaune.

"Hey I didn't tell them."

"Then who did?"

Pyrrha picked up the ball with a cough.

"Let's just get started. Weiss and Ruby can take the front, Jaune and I will cover your rears."

"Hey that's my sister Pyrrha," Yang said with a smirk. "And hitting on the new girl is unprofessional."

Weiss flushed, suddenly wishing she had put her dress back on. Pyrrha however didn't miss a beat, obviously used to Yangs jokes.

"Resorting to speech play already Yang?"

"She just knows she can't win with skill," Ruby yelled. "Dirty tactics is the best she can do."

"Oh really little sis?"

"Yeah, bring it on."

Weiss could only stare as Ruby picked up the ball. Why was everyone acting like this was normal behavior? It was like they were declaring war, not playing volleyball. Did this happen often.

Judging by Nora's manic grin, it probably did. Maybe she should back out...

And then the ball was in the air and the battle had begun.

* * *

Weiss had now drastically changed her opinion on sand. No longer did it seems soft and pillow-like. The perfect place to lie down and relax.

Well actually it still was and that was the problem. It was weird trying to run and change direction so quickly. She was used to fencing. Quick steps, forward and backward, subtle movements mostly through her wrist and the occasional thrust when the opening presented itself.

Volleyball was a hectic game in comparison, with no real strategy she could work out beyond keep the ball in the air. She just had to keep moving and hope Ruby could make up for her incompetence.

She didn't have the stamina for this game and soon the heiress found herself out of breath.

"Weiss!"

The ball was heading towards the other side of her zone. Spiked by Blake. Eyes narrowing and determined not to fail because of that stuck up girl, Weiss jumped forward to intercept.

And missed completely, falling in heap onto the ground before the ball smacked down onto her head.

Face burning, Weiss rolled over, spitting sand out of her mouth and trying to ignore the snickers coming from the other team.

"Sorry," came Blake's soft voice. "Guess it was too much for you."

Before Weiss could respond in kind, Ruby had ran over to her to help her up.

"Weiss are you okay?"

"Fine," she muttered, knocking Ruby's hand aside. "Its nothing."

For a second, Ruby looked hurt at the rejection but before she could say anything a new voice joined the group.

"Now that was awesome."

A blonde boy was walking towards them. Well swaggering would be a more apt description, . Wearing his white shirt half open and aviators perched across his face, he couldn't look more cocky if he tried. Though with those abs, perhaps he had a right to be...

Then Weiss noticed the tail that swung causally between his legs.

Faunus.

"Sun."

Blake had broken from her team heading towards the blonde faunus and embracing him in a hug. It seemed that the game was over. Weiss had a feeling she had lost.

"You are late," Blake said.

"Sorry babe," Sun said. "Had to stop and get some supplies."

He held up a bag that made Nora whoop in delight. He held up one of the bottles, a smirk on his face.

"Forgiven?"

"Forgiven," Blake said, leaning up to kiss him. "This time anyway."

"Duly noted, next time I won't stop."

"Let's not be so hasty," Nora said, stepping forward to take the bag from Sun. "What d'ya bring me?"

"Home made cocktails. Only the best."

Grinning ear to ear, Nora jumped up to hug the couple.

"You are too good for her Sun, I've always thought so."

"Thanks Nora. I'm glad someone appreciate me."

Weiss stood up from the sand, dusting herself off while no one was paying attention. It didn't do much good with her normally immaculate hair still covered in sand despite her efforts.

With a sigh, she walked over to where they had left their stuff, sitting back down on her towel. A moment later, Yang joined her, the only one not to go greet Sun.

"What's wrong with you?" she said noticing Yangs sullen face.

"Just annoyed our game ended," Yang said before suddenly smiling again. "Plus he's making me look bad. He made cocktails and I only have store bought. How do I compete with hi- that."

As if reminded, Yang reached over and grabbed a can from her cooler. Cracking it open, she took a swig before offering it to Weiss.

"Want one?"

"Umm."

Yang raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Come on Weiss, you're eighteen. Don't tell me you've never drank before?"

"I have," she said quickly. "I've just never drank beer before."

"First time for everything."

Realising Yang that wasn't going to take no for an answer, Weiss gingerly took the can. Raising it to her lips, Weiss got half a sip down before coughing up the bitter drink, much to the blondes amusement.

"Oh god," she said through splutters. "That tastes foul. How do you drink that swill?"

"You get used to it, Yang chucked before passing a different can. "Try this. It's fruitier and doesn't taste so 'foul' as you put it."

Dubiously, Weiss took the can. Holding her nose, she took a drink surprised when she realised Yang hadn't been lying. The cider did taste a lot better. That was hardly saying much since Weiss was used to drinking fine wines and champagne. Still she appreciated the gesture.

"Can I ask you something Yang?"

"Sure."

"Why does Blake hate me?"

It sounded pathetic and she didn't even know why she cared enough to ask. Blake was just one person and everyone else seemed okay with her. Ruby, Yang and Pyrrha seemed to actually like her.

But then, she had thought Cinder, Mercury and Emerald had actually liked her.

"Blake's like that with everyone at first," Yang said with a shrug. "She'll warm up to you as long as you don't do anything to piss her off."

"I hope so..."

Yang was lying to her, or at least to willing to see the best in her friend. Blake really didn't like her and she wanted to know why. If she knew who Weiss was it might make sense. She wouldn't be the first to hate the Schnees on reputation alone.

Weiss stared up at Blake, the girls attention still focused on Sun.

Sun was a Faunus and Blake's boyfriend. If Blake knew who she was, she would know all about the Schnee Dust Company and their views on the Faunus. Blake could just assume she shared the views and that could be enough to justify her hatred...

She shook the thoughts from her head.

Blake couldn't know who she was. No one here did. And if Blake hated her and knew who Weiss really was, then she would have told someone else. Weiss swallowed nervously.

Wouldn't she?

* * *

At around eight, Nora and Ren had to go. The sun had set by now and they were working the next day. Apparently, so was Yang but that hadn't slowed her down in the slightest, despite the efforts from her sister and Blake to get her to stop drinking the remaining cocktails.

It was after the blonde tackled Ruby to the sand and rag dolled on her, that Weiss called it a night.

"Don't go," Yang slurred. "Ice Queen please."

"I'm sorry but I am tired," she said. "And don't call me Ice Queen."

"Bye Weiss," came Ruby's muffled voice. "I'll message you later."

"Hey. How come she gets your number?"

"Probably because she isn't annoying," Sun said with a grin. "You only got mine under protest."

Weiss felt herself smirk as the group dissolved into laughter at Suns comment. It was funny. She had expected Sun to hate her as much as his girlfriend did but apparently Blake simply hadn't mentioned her to him. Weiss wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

In any case it was best she didn't push her luck. Saying her good byes, Weiss left before she embarrass herself. Then a slightly drunk Pyrrha hugged her making Weiss promise to get home safe.

A joke from Yang later and soon Weiss was walking home. It didn't take long before Weiss was outside her door, fumbling with the lock. Walking inside with as much poise as she could muster, Weiss found her sister waiting for her on the couch.

"You're back late."

"Winter," she said, trying to be appear normal. "I would have thought you would have been in bed."

"I thought I should stay up to make sure you got back okay," Winter said standing up. "Now that you have. I will be..." She paused. "You are acting strange."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Step forward."

Weiss huffed, annoyed at the accusations. Still, she complied with Winters demand, figuring that it would be easier to just fake her way through.

She walked forward, not missing a step as she stayed straight and narrow. Curtsying for affect, Weiss smirked up at her unflinching sister.

"Spin."

"Winter I'm-"

"Spin."

Rolling her eyes, Weiss spun on her toe and almost fell into the counter. Realising she wasn't going to get away with it, she turned back to Winters disapproving face.

"You're drunk."

"I'm not drunk," she said. "I only drank a little."

Winter didn't seem to approve.

"Look I'm eighteen, I'm not a kid," Weiss said. "Besides it's hardly my first drink."

"And all your peers are of age?"

"Yes," she said automatically. "Well... mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Ruby is eighteen in a few months. It's not a big deal."

"Just be careful. You walked home alone at night drunk-"

"Tipsy at most," she said quickly.

"Fine. Do what you want Weiss," Winter sighed. "I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too late."

The door to her sisters room closed and Weiss was left alone. A part of her was disappointed. Sure she had dodged a lecture but weren't older siblings meant to look to be over protective. Was it to much to hope that Winter would act like a sister instead of a tutor?

Weiss knew Winter cared in her own way. She just wished she could show it.

* * *

Weiss was an idiot.

She had been woken up by her scroll at around eight by Yang. Apparently something had come up and it would be really great if Weiss could possibly cover her shift. It was only a half shift.

Half halfheartedly, Weiss had agreed figuring she owed Yang for giving her the job in the first place. If Yang was busy then she should probably take the shift. Besides she needed more experience anyway.

Nora and Ren had quickly let her know that Yang had nothing on and was simply hung over. Everyone else knew not to listen to her after the blonde had been drinking but no one had told her that.

Immediately, she had angrily messaged Yang who sent back an apology consisting only of a single picture of her lying in bed. She was wearing sun glasses that said deal with it.

Fuming, Weiss put her scroll away turning back to her amused coworkers.

"Does this happen often?"

"Pretty much," Ren said. "If she has been drinking."

"So most weeks," Nora laughed. "Just ignore her next time. That's what everyone else does."

Before she could reply, Weiss felt her scroll began to buzz. No doubt it was Yang with another amusing photo. Wait this was a phone call. Why would Yang be phoning her?

Looking at the name that appeared on the screen, Weiss almost dropped her scroll. That wasn't possible. He couldn't be phoning her. Not now. Not here.

 _Calling  
_ _Father_

* * *

Nora - "Ren"

Nora - "You awake yet"

Ren - "Nora, I'm literally next door"

Nora - "But are you awake"

Ren - "No"

Nora - "Why not?"

Nora - "We have work to go to work in an hour"

Nora - "We'll be late"

Ren - "I need to shower and get changed."

Ren - "That's like twenty minutes tops"

Nora - "But what about breakfast!"

Nora - "The most important meal of the day!"

Nora - "You cannot miss breakfast!"

Nora - "I refuse to allow my best friend to start the day at such a disadvantage!"

Ren - "Nora, do you want me to make pancakes?"

Nora - "Well if you are offering..."


	5. Chapter 5

Her scroll was buzzing on her bed. The third time in the past hour. Why couldn't he take a hint? Why was he calling her now? It had been two months and now Weiss was finally getting somewhere, her father was going to ruin it.

She should tell Winter. She knew she should, but every message she typed she deleted straight away.

Winter wouldn't understand. That's what it came down to. Winter would tell her to ignore him. Block his number and pretend he didn't exist.

Weiss couldn't do that.

Her father had made her life hell. He had pushed her down his goals, forced her into hobbies of his choosing. Everything to mold her into his perfect little heir.

But he was still her father. Winter had cut off everything, only keeping the Schnee name to spite him. Her sister hated everything to do with that life but as much as she hated to admit it, Weiss didn't.

It had been easier and it actually felt like she was achieving something or at least working towards it. The best she could do now was serve actual important people with coffee.

And she was still a Schnee. That still meant something to her, even if Winter had forgotten. Weiss still remembered when they had still been a family. Mother was still alive, Winter would still talk to father and he hadn't been so obsessed with his legacy.

Giving up on their father and cutting ties would be her accepting that the Schnee name meant nothing. Their family meant nothing.

Weiss didn't know if she could do that.

* * *

Sunday, two weeks since Yang had hired her. Her first full day shift. It wouldn't be that bad. She was on in with Pyrrha and Ren after all.

Pyrrha was patient with her and Ren was just politely quiet. It meant she would probably be on till for most of the day. Weiss could deal with that. It was easier and Pyrrha could handle the actual making of the desserts far better than her. The shift would be fine.

Or it would be if her damn scroll would just stop going off. Since nine it just wouldn't stop. It made Weiss want to scream. Her whole head was a mess of questions and none of the answers made sense. How could this be happening.

"Weiss are you okay?"

The question made her jump since she hadn't heard Pyrrha approach. Turning around Weiss painted a smile.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seem a little on edge. Your scroll keeps going off but you just keep ignoring it."

"We're working. I'll get it later."

"It's not busy so if you wanted to take five minutes, Ren and I could probably handl-"

"Pyrrha," she snapped. "I told you I'm fine. Just drop it."

The older girl blinked at her, shocked by her outburst.

"I'm only trying to hel-"

"Well don't. I don't need any help. Nothing is wrong. So just mind you-"

Her scroll rang out, cutting off her rant with a whimper of stress. Pulling it out, she fumbled dropping the scroll straight in Pyrrhas outstretched hand.

"Give it bac-"

But it was too late. The display had landed straight up and the red head would have to have been blind not to see the name illuminated.

 _Calling  
_ _Father_

She tried to speak, to make an excuse. That it wasn't her own father causing her this stress. But when Weiss tried all that came out was incoherent mumbles.

For a second, Pyrrha didn't move. Then the redhead grabbed Weiss by the hand and pulled her towards the back door.

"Ren cover the front."

The quiet boy shot them a confused look but didn't say anything. Weiss tried to protest Pyrrhas but found herself unable to break the girls iron grip.

The door crashed open and Weiss was pulled outside to find herself staring into Pyrrha green eyes. The steely look had softened to one of concern.

"Weiss what's going on?"

"I told you it's nothing," she said but even she didn't believe it.

Her voice cracked and broke as everything she had been holding back finally burst outwards. The secrets, her father, her life. Mercury, Emerald and Cinder. Everything she had to deal with it and no one to talk to.

"I- I just-"

Slumping down onto the cold stone steps, Weiss started to cry. Sobs that wracked her body as she miserably failed to hold herself together. Then she felt Pyrrhas arms around her shoulder.

"Why are you doing this,"Weiss said, between her sobs. "You barely even know me."

"Actually, Weiss Schnee," Pyrrha said softly. "I do."

* * *

"I was a fencer too, when I was younger," Pyrrha said once Weiss managed to control herself. "I was pretty good at it too. Even went to a few tournaments. Just small ones hosted in Vale for the most part. It was my parents idea. They were always kinda pushy with me. Fencing was just another skill so that they forward my acting career."

"Not to put too fine a point on it, but I was the best in Vale. I could beat anyone at my practices easily. Too easily. It was boring. So when I was given the opportunity to enter a tournament in Mantle, I jumped at the chance."

Weiss stared into the distance as she listened to the story. The familiar feeling she had gotten when she had been introduced to Pyrrha suddenly made sense. They had met before.

"A whole new set of challengers. People who could actually challenge me. I thought that might give me a new appreciation for the sport," Pyrrha smiled. "Something to light a fire within me."

"I was suited up, protective mask on and ready to go. And then you walked onto the stage. Weiss Schnee. Heiress to Schnee Empire. I tried to introduce myself but you wouldn't even talk to me."

Flaming red hair, trapped behind the white mesh mask. She had tried to speak, but Weiss hadn't listened to her. Father didn't like it when she conversed with her opponents.

"Now this was a challenge. If I could beat her, then surely that would make me love fencing. I might even knock this stuck up rich girl down a peg or two. The bell rang and we began."

"I didn't land a hit. Not even a single point. For the first time in my life, I was completely and utterly outclassed. It was rather humiliating to say the least."

"I'm sorry," Weiss said. "I didn't mean to make you look bad. I just..."

It wasn't enough to just win. Weiss had to dominate. She had to be flawless, untouchable, invincible. Anything less was unacceptable in her fathers eyes. She had to be perfect.

"I know," Pyrrha said. "I saw you again after the match, talking to your dad. He didn't look happy."

"I hadn't been perfect. Too slow with my thrusts and too heavy on my feet. I had to be better. I was a Schnee. Had to be better..."

"You hadn't taken a hit, Weiss. I had thought that you were some stuck up rich girl with more money than brains. But when I was in the car home and my parents didn't want to talk to me I realised we were the same."

"My parents weren't as bad, but they were still controlling. It took me a week to convince to let me stop fencing. Two months to convince them I didn't want to be an actress."

"I managed to escape the life my parents wanted for me, but I only realised I wanted to escape because of you Weiss. You didn't know it, you didn't even mean it, but you changed my life. So if you need anything from me, I'll be here."

For a few minutes, Weiss didn't say anything. She just sat on the ground with the garbage while Pyrrha waited. Finally she plucked up the nerve to speak.

"What should I do? I just don't know what to do."

"I think," Pyrrha said softly. "That you need to talk to your dad."

The anxiety returned. Forgotten during Pyrrhas story but now it hit her like a freight train almost crippling her ability to speak.

"I can't."

"You'll have to soon. It's better not to put it off. I don't know your father but mine came around eventually. He might be more supportive than you think. Maybe he just missed you."

She laughed bitterly.

"Like you said, you don't know my father. After Winter left her name wasn't mentioned for a year."

"It's your choice Weiss." Pyrrha smiled. "But if you want to phone him. I'll be here to support you."

As if on cue, Weiss felt her scroll began to vibrate. Once again her heart began to pound as she stared down at the screen.

 _Calling  
_ _Father._

Weiss felt Pyrrhas hand rest upon her shoulder and she looked up to stare into the green eyes. A few second past and then Pyrrha nodded.

Taking a shaky breath, Weiss clicked answer.

"Hello."

"Ahh Miss Schnee, I'm glad we could finally reached you."

Weiss closed her eyes, trying to suppress the urge to throw her scroll away. Of course it was the receptionist. Her father was far to busy to phone his daughter himself.

"Can you please hold while we transfer you through to Mr Schnee."

"Of course."

Pyrrha was looking at her, confused concern evident in her eyes. But Weiss was too busy listening to the sound of dialing to respond. And then... click.

"Hello Weiss."

For a second, Weiss didn't respond unable say anything. But finally she was able to whisper two words.

"Hi Daddy."

"How are you sweetheart?"

He said it so casually. Like he hadn't been harassing her for a weekend. Like they had just spoken two hours ago not two months.

"I'm fine Daddy. I've just been busy."

"So I've heard. Very busy with your... new employment."

She felt her blood run cold.

"How do you know about that?"

"Did you really think I wouldn't keep up to date with my daughters affairs?" He laughed at the other end of the line. "What sort of father do you take me for?"

"Of course daddy," she said, smiling although he couldn't see it. "I'm sorry."

She had to stop talking. Every word felt like it would be vomited out with bile and anxiety. It was all just too much for her.

"Listen Daddy I have to go," she said quickly. "I'm at work."

"Of course. I just wanted to check in on my little girl. Remind you that you still have a home to come back to." There was a pause. "You know that, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Good. I would hate for you to feel unwelcome. Everything is still waiting for you, when you return. It would be just like it was."

"Thanks... Bye Dad."

"See you soon sweet heart."

"I love you," she said as the line went dead.

Shakily, she set her scroll onto the ground and leaned back against the dumpster. Pyrrha slid down best to her, offering her a smile.

"Are you alright Weiss?"

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. The urge to throw up still barely being kept at bay.

"Do you need anything?"

"No," she said after a pause. "We should probably get back to work. Ren's been on alone for a while."

Pyrrha shook her head almost immediately.

"Don't worry about that," she said. "We can sit here as long as you need."

"Thanks Pyrrha, but really I'm okay. Go help Ren."

It was obvious that Pyrrha was reluctant. Even as she stood up slowly, it was clear that she didn't want to leave Weiss alone.

"If you're sure..."

"Just go." Another fake smile. "I just need another minute."

"Alright, just take your time."

"Pyrrha." The red head stopped. "Please don't tell anyone who I am. I'm not quite ready for that yet."

"Of course. Your secret is safe with me."

Only once she was sure that Pyrrha was back inside did Weiss begin to move. She stood up, calmly stepped around the corner and out of sight. Pulling her hair back out of the way, Weiss leaned forward and threw up.

It didn't make her feel better, but it would be enough to get her through the day. Only a few more hours. She would need to talk to Winter about this.

* * *

Pyrrha had sent her home in the end. Half an hour in the kitchen and it became increasingly apparent she was doing more harm than good. Weiss had tried to protest but hadn't been able to put up much of a fight.

Once Jaune had arrived she had left, half rolling her eyes. Pyrrha was looking after her, but clearly she still had her own side agenda. Still Weiss would have to find a way to repay the girl. Maybe she could find someone else to set Pyrrha up with. She deserved someone far better than Jaune after all.

Now Weiss was back at the apartment, lying on the couch waiting for Winter to get home. It was a Sunday, her sister should be home already. Hell Weiss didn't know where Winter would even be. All she normally did was work.

Weiss groaned in frustration, rolling over and pressing her face against the cushions. What was taking her so long?

 _"There will be no discussion on the matter, my daughter. This is what you will be doing and we will finalize the arrangements upon my return. Do you understand?"_

 _"Daddy please, I don't want-"_

 _"Do you understand?"_

 _She wants to shout at him, scream at him. It isn't fair. It's not what she wants. Why can't she choose something? Anything?_

 _Instead she nods shakily, trying to desperately stop the tears that are threatening to overflow. You can't show weakness. It will only make things worse._

 _Her father can tell though, rolling his eyes as he turns away. Another business party where he will have to make an excuse for her absence. He couldn't possibly being her now. Too much risk of embarrassment._

* * *

"Weiss. Weiss!"

Winter is shaking her when she finally snaps out of her trance. Blinking Weiss tried to sit up, but her sister was still in her way.

"Weiss what are you doing here? You said you were working today."

"I was, I- they sent me home."

"Why? What did you do?"

"Father phoned me."

"Oh."

Winter slumped onto the couch next to her. The two white haired sisters saying nothing for a long time.

"What did he want?

"I don't know. He said he just wanted to check in. I think... I think he has been watching me. He knows I have the job at Beacon."

"He is watching you."

"You knew. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I've been at Atlas for four years Weiss," Winter said with a grim smile. "Yet I'm still an entry level position. Why do you think that is?"

Weiss didn't reply. She had never really thought about it. In the two months, Weiss had been here, she hadn't really thought to ask. It didn't seem important enough to bring up. They were short on money but she had assumed that was because of her not because Winter was on a low paid job.

"I don't understand. Father has no sway at Atlas. You said you work for General Ironwood."

"The General hired me but he only oversees things at work. He's a busy man. If I asked he would probably look into it but..."

"But what?"

Winter let out a rare smile.

"I'm stubborn. I refuse to let anyone say I didn't make it on my own merits. If that means I have to work twice as hard and twice as long as everyone else so be it. But I will not beg for scraps."

"So what do you think father wants with me."

"He wants you back. Dad gave up on me a long time ago but you were always his favorite."

The words sounded bitter, almost resentful.

"But I don't think he expected you to stay away. He probably thought your tantrum would have ended by now and you would have gone back to him."

"But then I got a job."

"But then you a got a job," Winter agreed. "If you create a life here, then he knows you won't ever go back and play the role he wants you to play. Dad is trying to manipulate you, Weiss. Make you miss that life. Make you think this one is too hard for you."

"Then what do I do?"

"Nothing. Beacon is a privately owned small business and Dad is not above bribery. If he could fire you directly he would. For some reason, the owner must like you enough to keep you around. A good first impression I guess."

"I've never even met him..."

She said it so quietly, Winter must not have even heard her. Or maybe she just ignored her.

"It doesn't change anything. Just forget about him Weiss. The more you think about him, the more chance there is you'll falter. And then he wins. Don't let him control you."

"So I shouldn't do anything?"

"Well..." Winter but her lip. A nervous tick that Weiss hadn't seen in years. "You might have to tell your friends who you really are."

"Pyrrha already knows."

"Who?"

"Pyrrha Nikos, she-"

"The Pumpkin Pete mascot?"

"How do you know that?"

"I- Never mind. How does she know you? Did you tell her?"

"No I... We've met before. At one of my fencing tournaments."

"And she hasn't told anyone?" Weiss shook her head. "No one else knows?"

Blake's amber eyes appeared before her. Accusing her and staring into Weiss's. Silently judging her.

"No," she said finally. "I don't think so."

"Good, it will be easier if you can tell them yourself."

She was probably right, Winter usually was, but Weiss didn't think she could tell them. Not yet. Not before she knew for sure that they actually liked her. She didn't want to deal with that fallout.

Once they found out that she was a Schnee, everything would change. They would all look at her differently, even Ruby. Would the girl still be so upbeat and cheery in-front of her? Would Yang make her stupid jokes?

"Winter," she said. "Has father ever tried to contact you?"

Her sister didn't say anything for a few moments.

"No."

"Not even once?"

"Like I said, you were always the favorite."

The two sisters sat in silence with nothing more left to say.

* * *

Her scroll started to vibrate but this time the feelings of stress weren't so bad. They were still there, Weiss could feel them. A nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach, the urge to throw her phone and the sudden urge to curl up in a ball and weep.

So when she finally picked up her scroll and saw that it was not her father phoning her, Weiss almost started to laugh in relief.

Calling

Ruby Rose

But still Weiss couldn't bring herself to pick up. Hovering her finger over the answer button, the muscles refused to move. The feelings of relief dissolve away. Even when he was doing nothing, her father could still control her.

Dropping her phone, Weiss lay back down on her bed and waited for the sounds to ring out. Finally it ended, and Weiss released the breath she didn't realise she had been holding.

Then it buzzed twice. Clearly, Ruby wasn't letting her off the hook that easily. She picked up the scroll to see the message illuminated.

 _Are you okay?_

Perhaps, Pyrrha wasn't so trustworthy after all. It maybe it was Ren. It was always the quiet ones who were the sneakiest. Ren would have told Nora who was probably shouting about her humiliation from the rooftops.

No wait. It had to be Jaune. The creepy little blonde had arrived just as she was leaving. He had probably weaseled what had happened out of Pyrrha using her misguided affections for him as a weapon. That manipulative little bas-

The scroll vibrated again.

 _Pyrrha phoned Yang to say you were feeling ill and switched with Jaune_

Oh. That made more sense.

 _Just wanted to make sure you were feeling okay_

Weiss sighed half considering ignoring the messages. Pretend like she hadn't seen them and sending a dismissive reply later.. Wait, did she disable message receipts yet?

 _I know you can see these._

Dammit.

Automatically, she typed a response. Something short and easy just to get rid of her.

 _Yes I'm fine now it was just-_

Sighing she deleted the message.

 _No actually. I'm having a pretty awful day_

 _Oh no :( What's wrong?_

 _My father called_

 _oh_

 _So that sad face was probably not appropriate then..._

Weiss laughed despite herself. Only Ruby could get away with something so ridiculously childish in this situation.

 _No not really_

 _Sorry_

 _You didn't know, my father is-_

Once again she stopped typing, Winters warning ringing in her ears. Pyrrha already knew, what was one more red head. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad to tell Ruby who she really was.

 _My father is complicated. I haven't spoken to him in months and it threw me somewhat. You can tell Yang it won't happen again_

 _No it's fine. We're all very understanding of family issues_

Dead mother and missing step mother. Yeah, these people would have to be understanding to remain who they were and not cynical Valentine shells.

* * *

Yang - "Hey Blake"

Blake - "What's up?"

Yang - "I need to do some staff training"

Yang - "You in"

Blake - "Sure"

Blake - "Who needs trained?"

Yang - "That's not important"

Blake - "Yang"

Yang - "You know I like to think of Beacon as one unit"

Yang - "If one of us needs training, we all need training"

Blake - "Yang"

Yang - "One team one dream"

Blake - "It's Weiss isn't it?"

Yang - "Ice queen is indeed a part of our unit..."

Blake - "You know how I feel about her Yang"

Yang - "Actually I don't"

Yang - "For some reason you hate this girl you've barely even met"

Blake - "I have good reasons"

Yang - "That you won't tell me"

Yang - "Me, your best friend Yang"

Blake - "You've already played that card this month"

Yang - "Come on, Blake"

Yang - "I would do it for you..."

Blake - "Last week you wouldn't switch my shifts so I could go out with Sun"

Yang - "Come on Blake"

Blake - "Sorry Yang but find someone else"

Yang - "It's the same training we used on Jaune..."

Blake - "When and where?"


	6. Chapter 6

_Crash_

Weiss let out a yelp as the glass shattered against the ground for the third time that shift. Groaning in despair, Weiss stopped and began picking up the shards of glass trying to ignore the stares of patrons.

Though really if you thought about it, this was Ruby's fault. A week ago, the red headed little dolt had brought up to her sister that Weiss hadn't yet done any table service. That had resulted in Yang assigning her four late shifts so that she could master it.

Currently on her fourth shift, Weiss had broken at least four glasses each day and was showing no sign of improvement. In fact today she still had two hours left of her shift left and was only one break away from her average.

Letting out a sigh, Weiss realised that Yang hadn't come out to berate her yet. Maybe she could just pretend this one hadn't happ-

"Really?"

Maybe not.

Slowly, Weiss turned around trying to avoid staring into the annoyed lilac eyes. Yang was great when Weiss was doing well and could be very encouraging. But if Weiss wasn't doing well, which was fairly often, Yang had a pretty short fuse.

Finishing up the cleaning, Weiss muttered another apology to the nearby customers and hurried back into the kitchen. As she passed the Jaune, he shot her an apologetic look that she returned with a glare. She still hasn't forgiven him for the coffee incident.

"This is getting ridiculous Weiss," Yang said. "That's the fourth one today."

"It's only the third."

"That's not much better." Yang rubbed her temple. "I thought that after a week of it, you would be showing some signs of improvement but obviously I was mistake."

"I'm trying okay," she snapped, anger rising to cover her shame. It really was pathetic she wasn't getting better at this. "Can't you just put me on tills?"

"You can't be on tills the entire time, it's not fair on the rest of us. Besides you can barely do any of the recipes but that takes way too long to teach. You are just going to have to get better at balancing."

Weiss fumed but didn't protest. There wasn't really an argument to be made. Yang was right. Tills were by far the easiest part of the job as long as you could talk to people. Coffee wasn't that bad, but no one really ordered it after lunch.

As far as ice cream was concerned, Weiss could do tubs and the occasional come. Any more elaborate than that was beyond her. It was just all so confusing.

Yang was staring at her, biting her lip as the blonde considered something. Yang deep in thought was something that worried her.

"Weiss I'm sorry," Yang said finally. "But I'm going to have pull out the big guns."

"What are you talking about?"

"You remember where we hung out on the beach?" Weiss nodded. "Meet me there tomorrow around one."

Weiss was now very nervous.

"What for?"

Yang grinned and Weiss barely repressed a squeal of fear.

"Trial by fire."

With that, Yang headed back out into the dining area, probably to apologies for Weiss incompetence. Letting out a frustrated moan, Weiss collapsed onto the counter.

"A word of advice," Jaune said. "Don't wear anything you care about."

"What? Why?"

"Tell her nothing Arc," Yang yelled from outside the kitchen. "You here me? Nothing."

"I can make your life hell Jaune," Weiss hissed. "Now tell me?"

Jaune paled as he stood, trapped between fire and ice. In his head, being stuck between these two girls had been a lot hotter.

"Umm."

"Jaune."

"ARC!"

* * *

Technically they couldn't make her do anything. If she wasn't working, they couldn't fire her for making decisions that had nothing to do with her job. If she didn't turn up, what could they really do?

Weiss continued to repeat this to herself as she walked slowly towards the beach. If whatever the two sisters had concocted seemed like it was too much, Weiss would simply leave.

They couldn't make her do anything.

The repeated mantra did little to comfort her as Weiss continued to walk along the beach. Why couldn't Yang have at least told her what they were doing?

Jaune had been no help. Apparently he feared Yangs wrath more than be wanted to date her. Pyrrha had just sent an apologetic message reiterating Jaunes warning to not wear anything nice. Not reassuring. Winter thought she was overreacting and Ruby had just said it would be fun.

Weiss had a feeling the 'fun' would mostly be for the two sisters.

Maybe she should head by Beacon first. Ren and Nora would probably be working and she hadn't them what this was. Ren would probably stay quiet but Nora loved to talk. Weiss could get it out of Nora easily.

But unfortunately Weiss didn't have the time. She was still five minutes away and it was already ten to twelve. Okay she was still going to be early but punctuality was important damn it.

Fortunately, it seemed she wasn't the only one who cared about timekeeping. Unfortunately the person Weiss found sitting on the sand reading a book, was Blake Belladonna.

"What are you doing here?" she said without thinking.

Blake didn't look at her, continuing to read as though Weiss hadn't said anything.

"I'm talking to-"

The girl held up a finger to silence her, the gesture only working because of how mad it made her. The nerve of the black haired little bi-

"Sorry, I had to finish my page," Blake said with a small smile. "What were you saying?"

This time she didn't care that it was rude.

"What are you doing here?"

"Yang said you needed some help."

Weiss felt herself go pale.

"So I was only to happy to oblige."

Oh god.

"I like your shirt by the way."

Weiss almost passed out and Blake just smirked.

Okay, she could recover this. Sure Yang and Ruby had managed to make some training that was so awful, the girl who hated her most had turned up just to watch but...

But nothing, Weiss was screwed. The best she could was to try and damage control the situation. Yang and Ruby were bound to be late so maybe she could pretend to be nice to this girl and then Blake would go easy on her.

"So.." Weiss said sitting down. "What are you reading?"

"You don't care."

"Excuse me."

"You don't care Weiss, so don't pretend to."

"And how do you know that."

"Because people like you don't care about anyone and only pretend to care to get something they want."

"That's not even remotely true."

"Really? What do I study?"

"What?"

"What do I study? It's a simple question."

Weiss wracked her brains trying to think of anything that would give her a clue about what Blake studied. She came up blank. Deflect.

"That's not fair. We've barely talked and that's because of you."

"True." Blake smiled again and Weiss got the sense she had walked into a trap. "What does Pyrrha study?"

It was Weiss turn to smirk.

"That's easy, she studies-"

And once again her mind drew a blank. She opened her mouth desperately trying remember if Pyrrha had ever mentioned what she did at college. Nothing came to her.

"It's... It's never come up."

"Really and haven't you done a lot of shifts with her?"

"Yes."

"So you have had a lot of time to talk?"

"Yes."

"And you never once thought to ask Pyrrha what she does when you are not around?" Weiss didn't say anything. "That's what I thought."

Blake went back to her reading, and Weiss turned away glaring into the sand. It wasn't that she didn't care what Pyrrha studied, it's just never seemed relevant. The beach suddenly didnt feel so warm.

The two girls sat in silence for what seemed liked silence until finally.

"Weiss!"

The heiress looked up just in time to be tackled to the sand by a grinning Ruby.

"Ruby you have got to stop doing that."

"Nope."

"You are such a dork," Weiss said, though she couldn't bring herself to muster up much venom. "Get off me."

She was saved from Ruby's weight by the arrival of Yang. Lifting her sister up with one arm, she grinned down at Weiss.

"See I help sometimes."

"Much appreciated."

It was then Weiss noticed that the two sisters had dropped off two buckets filled to the brim with what looked like sponges.

"What are those for?" she said though she had a horrible feeling she knew the answer.

"Training," Yang said grinning.

"That it?" Blake asked leaning over the bucket.

"Yeah Pyrrha reminded me that we almost drove Jaune to a break down after his training." Yang shrugged. "She made me promise to stick with sponges this time."

Weiss made a mental note to thank Pyrrha. Also to find out what they had used last time.

Then she noticed Ruby starting to set out cones and what looked like hurdles. Yang had pulled some trays out of her bag and was setting them up with plastic glasses.

Then she put two and two together.

"No."

"Hmm?"

Yang looked up with an amused smirk on her face.

"I am not running an obstacle course so that you can pelt me with sponges."

"What? why?"

"Why? Do I even have to answer that question? I will not subject myself to this ridiculous scheme just for your amusement."

"It's not a scheme," Ruby said who at least had the decency to look somewhat guilty. "It's training."

"How is this training!"

"It's improves your balance and teaches you to react to the unexpected scenarios that may occur in the work place," Blake said. "It really is vital training."

"Oh really," Weiss said. "Have you done this?"

"God no. I'm not incompetent so I can hold a tray."

Turning around, Weiss stormed towards the beach edge but she didnt get far before Ruby caught up with her.

"Come on Weiss it'll be fun."

"It will not be fun, it will be humiliating."

"Look why don't you just try doing it a few times and I promise we won't throw anything. We'll only use the sponges if you are okay with it."

Weiss paused considering the option. That wouldn't be too bad would it. She did need to improve and she wasn't getting any better at work...

"You promise not to throw the sponges?"

Ruby grinned.

"I promise."

Reluctantly, Weiss turned back around. She was going to regret this.

As they drew closer, Weiss managed to hear the end of Yang and Blake's whispers.

"Why are you acting like this? This isn't like you."

"It was just a joke Yang."

"No it wasn't. Seriously what is you-Oh your back."

Weiss felt her blood begin to boil as she glared at Blake's. She would show her who was incompetent. Weiss was going wipe that smug smirk off her face if it killed her.

* * *

Once Ruby had explained her conditions, the two sisters started to set up the course. Blake seemed disappointed at the lack of projectiles, picking at the bow that never left her head. Weiss just stood there, arms crossed as fought every urge she had to just leave and not go through with this tomfoolery.

All too soon, the course was ready and Ruby eagerly bounded to the starting point to demonstrate it. Yang took her place next to Weiss ready to commentate.

"Alright Ruby if you will."

Ruby picked up a tray atop which balanced six sundae glasses. Empty, thank Dust. Then she began to skip towards the first obstacle.

"To start with, we have the cones of death," Yang said. "These represent the possible customers that you will need to avoid while cleaning tables."

The tray didn't so much as wobble as Ruby began to weave effortlessly in between the cones.

"Next we have the hurdles of eternal damnation. We get a lot of kids at the store and some of them like to crawl about. You have to be ready to step over them.

The hurdles were about knee high, yet Ruby flew over them like they were nothing. Once again not a single glass had fallen.

"Now Ruby approaches the limbo of... Um"

"Oppression?" Blake supplied.

"The limbo of oppression, thanks Blake."

"And what," Weiss said with as much derision as she could muster. "Does the limbo of oppression represent pray tell?"

"I dunno, I'm making this up on the fly."

Unbeknownst to the other, both Weiss and Blake rolled their eyes.

"And finally we come to the hallway of Grimm," Yang said, loud enough to attract stares. "A simple sprint to the end."

It was at this point, Weiss noticed that Yang had picked up one of the sponges and while her sister wasn't looking, lobbed it at her head. The red headed girl barely managed to dodge out of the way in time, shooting a pointed glare at Yangs unabashed grin.

Despite the sneak attack, all glasses remained on the tray much to Weiss chagrin. Now she had to compete with a perfect score as well as a fast time. She was screwed.

"So ready to give it a try?" Yang asked as Ruby hand her the tray.

"I'm positively ecstatic," she muttered as she trudged over to the starting point.

"Okay Ruby managed it in about a minute so lets see if you can hit a minute thirty. Ten second penalty for every glass you drop."

Oh, that seemed fair. Not like Ruby had been doing this for god knows how long, while she had been doing this for a month. A thirty second discrepancy was totality attainable, especially once they started throwing sponges.

Out of the corner of her eye, Weiss could see Blake staring at her, an amused look on her face.

Glaring forward, Weiss readied herself. She was not going to fail in front of that bi-

"Go!"

* * *

Her first attempt had been a miserable failure. Trying to move too fast she had caught her foot on one of the hurdles. Not enough to trip her but certainly enough to send all the glasses flying across the sand.

A snicker of laughter escaped from the group and she glared over at Yang and Blake. At least Ruby hadn't laughed.

"You're doing good Weiss."

"I literally dropped anything."

"Yeah how about we call mulligan and start again," Yang said. "Sound good?"

"Can we use the sponges yet?"

"No."

The second attempt went better...kinda. Weiss made all the way to the end before getting excited and dropping a glass on the sprint.

It took her four more attempts before she made it through without dropping anything. Even Ruby had stopped trying to cheer her on at that point.

Okay maybe that was because she had gotten angry and snapped at her... again. Weiss had definitely lost sympathy from Yang at that point. Not a good move when Blake was staring at the sponges like a cat did a mouse.

Then after an hour, Ruby called a break.

"You'll be getting tired," she said. "No point running you off your feet."

"Yeah, we would never have to work while tired."

Weiss bit back the retort she wanted to send Blake's way, half hoping that Yang might defend her again. However judging from the blondes smirk, she was unlikely to get any.

It pissed her off.

"You know what," she said icily. "Let's keep going."

"Are you sure. I mean you got that last one without dropping any and your times improving-" Her last time had been two minutes seven. "-so you could probably take a rest."

Ruby wilted under Weiss's scowl.

"But if you don't want to that fines. We'll go again."

"If your feeling so confident maybe we can step it up a notch?" Blake said. "If you are up for it, of course."

"Blake..." Yang said but Weiss cut her off.

"Fine," Weiss seethed. "Let's see if you aim is as crooked as your bow."

It was a pathetic insult, she was out of practice, but it had the desired affect.

Blake's eyes flared.

* * *

Weiss yelped as the wet sponge swatted against her back. It was icy cold and made her want to die, but she didn't dare flinch. She didn't dare show any signs of weakness in front of her enemy. Weiss refused to give Blake the satisfaction.

Judging from Blake's smile, she looked pretty satisfied. Apparently the novelty hadn't worn off her. Even after an hour.

Repressing a groan, Weiss turned back to the tray. Amazingly, not a single glass had fallen from it yet. Maybe she could still do it. One perfect run might be enough to convince them to stop.

 _Thawp_

The glasses went flying as the sponge bounced off her chest and onto the tray. Fuming she turned back to the red headed culprit.

"Sorry Weiss," Ruby said, hiding slightly behind her sister. "I didn't mean it."

"You know we are meant to be aiming at her right sis," Yang smirked. "But maybe we should call it a day..."

She hoped the relief wasn't so obvious on her face. Weiss was soaking wet and miserable. This stupid exercise had been as humiliating as expected and even more pointless than she imagined.

And worst of all, she had to do it all in front of a girl that seemed to hate her for no recognizable reason at all.

If her father could see her now... Oh great now she felt even worse.

The others had started to pack up though Blake looked a little reluctantly.

"Hey Weiss little help," Yang said gesturing to the sponge still on the tray. The nerve of that woman.

Still scowling, Weiss picked up the sponge and threw it

Right into Blake's face.

The look of shock was something that Weiss would savor for a very long time. The surprise as her smug smirk was stripped from her face. The satisfying squelch followed by a hiss of discomfort. Beautiful.

There was moment of silence as nobody dared say anything. Weiss knew she should apologize. Explain that she had been balancing the tray on her strong arm so her aim had been off. It was legitimately an accident. There was no need to fan the flames.

Instead she dryly said

"Oops."

And then Yang burst out laughing.

"Oh my god Blake," she wheezed. "You should see your face."

Blake's glare did little to deter Yangs laughter and soon Ruby had started grinning.

"It was pretty funny."

"What's the problem Blake," Weiss smirked. "It's just one sponge."

"She's got a point. You've been throwing sponges at her for an hour."

The bow haired girl fumed but didn't say anything probably realising she couldn't justify getting mad. Weiss smiled at her. Maybe today hadn't been so bad after all. Then a horrible throught occured to her.

"Did any of you bring a towel?"

Blakes smile was back as both Ruby and Yang looked at each other.

"Umm..."

"Of course not," Weiss said. "Why would I need a towel?"

"In our defense, we had to bring a lot of sponges."

"I don't think that's an excuse Yang..."

Weiss was fuming.

"Careful there ice queen," Yang said. "You're looking a little red."

"Yang," Ruby said quietly.

"Though if you get angry enough, maybe you'll dry yourself off."

"Yang."

"I swear to god that happened to me once."

"Yang."

"I called it getting Yangry."

"Yang!"

Rubys finally managed to cut off her sisters ramblings right before Weiss hit her.

"This is fine," Ruby said. "We'll just head to Beacon. We have spare towels there. That okay Weiss?"

"Like I have a choice."

The red head grinned broadly looking over to Yang and Blake. The former looked slightly sheepish.

"So you guys got this right Rubes... Blake and I kinda made plans to go shopping."

"Really?"

"Sorry Ruby but it's my anniversay with Sun," Blake said. "I would have invited you but I know you hate that sort of stuff."

Ruby pouted.

"Yeah it's fine. Go ahead and your fun... without me. I'll just stay with Weiss and see if she can get this dagger out of my back."

Yang rolled her eyes.

"Ruby, you buy all your clothes online."

"My own blood ."

"And they all consist of red and black," Blake added.

"The sting of betrayal."

"You've also never had a boyfriend making you kinda inexperienced."

"Yang!"

Turning as red as her namesake, Ruby grabbed Weiss arms and dragged her away. Letting out a squawk of indignation, Weiss barely heard Yangs send off.

"Bye Weiss. See you at worker."

* * *

Five minutes of Ruby's ranting later, they arrived at Beacon. Trying to ignore the looks of confusion she was receiving, a soaking wet Weiss followed Ruby inside and over to a booth.

"Just wait here till and I'll see if we have any towels," Ruby said, her chipper attitude returning with a vengence. "We don't want you to tred water everywhere... and sand."

With that, Ruby abandoned her and Weiss slumped into a chair. A few moments later, a slightly guilty looking Pyrrha walked over.

"Hi Weiss," she said. "How did the training go?"

Weiss glared at her.

"That well huh."

"I hate all of you."

"Sorry Weiss," Pyrrha said. "Yang made all of us promise not to tell you. At least I managed to limit it to water."

"Well thank you for that I suppose," Weiss muttered. "But next time, remind them to bring a towel."

"That explains the dripping."

Jaune joined them

"I thought they finally melted through Ice Queens-"

"Don't finish that sentence Arc."

In a surprising show of intelligence, Jaune obeyed. It didn't help her annoyance and Weiss could tell that Pyrrha and Jaune were regretting coming over to her.

The heiress knew she should apologise. It wasn't their fault after all but after the day she had suffered, Weiss was in short of patience.

Sighing Weiss did the closest thing she could. She changed the subject.

"Has work been busy then?"

"No not really," Pyrrha said with a smile. "You know how it is."

Weiss did not know how it was, she barely been working a month. But still, small talk was a game she could play so she returned the smile with all the grace and poise she was taught as a Schnee.

The she sneezed.

Blushing furiously at Jaunes and Pyrrhas giggles, Weiss let her head fall onto the table. What was taking Ruby so long?

"Do you want a coffee?" Jaune said suddenly. "It might warm you up a bit."

"Arc if you open your mouth one- oh" Weiss blinked. "Um yes please."

Weiss watched the boy walk away before turning back to Pyrrha confused.

"What just happened?"

"I told you he isn't so bad once you get to know him. Once you get past his bravado, he really is quite sweet."

"He just wants something. Maybe he thinks that I'll date him if-"

"Not everyone has an angle Weiss. Sometimes people are just nice."

"Not in my life Pyrrha."

"Maybe not in your old one," Pyrrha said. "I'd better get back to work. Shout if you need anything."

Leaving to clean some table, Pyrrha left Weiss alone with her thought. Part of Weiss wanted to believe her. Yang, Ruby, Pyrrha and Winter. They cared about her, dist they.

But then she remembered her father. She remembered Mercury, Cinder and Emerald. All of her other friends Weiss had before she left her father. All the people that hadn't talked to her once since she stopped being a Schnee.

Everyone was only out for themselves.

The quiet shop was suddenly filled with the sound of humming. Weiss looked up to see a blonde man in cargo shorts walking across the parlor floor throwing a wave at Pyrrha as he did. Must be a regular.

Then he brazenly walked past the till and towards the back of the shop.

Weiss blinked confused. Pyrrha hadn't seemed to have noticed and Jaune was still back in the kitchen. Someone had to stop the potential thief.

Crap, it was her responsibility wasn't it?

"Excuse me sir," she said as he turned to face her. "You can't go back there."

"Really?" he said with a smirk that looked almost familiar. "Did Yang stage a coup? It does sound like something she would do..."

"What are you talk-" Weiss shut her eyes as she put it together. "You're Yangs father..."

Somehow being pelted with wet sponges was now the second most embarrassing thing she had done today. That was almost impressive.

"And you must be Weiss," he said shaking her hand. "Yang and Ruby have told me a lot about you."

"I am so sorry about this sir."

"Not at all, as your boss I really should made sure you were settling in okay." He smiled. "And please just call me Taiyang... Why are you dripping?"

Well being pelted with sponges was now number three on the list.

"I- uh Training?"

Somehow that must have made sense to Taiyang because he just laughed.

"Well that explains that," he said. "You know I taught her that."

He seemed oddly proud of throwing sponges at his daughter.

"Really si- I mean." Taiyang seemed to causal. "Mr Xiao Long."

"Taiyang and yeah. When Yang first started her balance was awful."

"I can't imagine that."

"Really? My daughter strikes you as the naturally graceful."

That was actually a really good point.

"Oh..."

And that exhausted Weiss ability to talk to this man. How were you meant to talk to your boss. Especially when he was so causal.

Thankfully, she was rescued by a red blur. A scenario that was becoming increasing common.

"Hey dad," Ruby said. "What are you doing here?"

"Dropping off the wages," he said. "But I thought you had today off."

"Oh we were training Weiss but we forget to bring towels."

"Of course you did," he said with a sigh. "Wait did you stick with water this time?"

"Yes."

"Good the last time was almost a lawsuit..."

Seriously, what did they do to Jaune?

"Here you go by the way," Ruby said handing Weiss a pink fluffy towel. "It's Noras."

"And take this too," Taiyang said ruffling through some envelopes. "First set wages."

Weiss took the wages hesitantly. She couldnt remember the last time she had her own money. It was always cards that her father owned. Nothing that she had earned. It was an odd feeling.

"Thank you," she said softly. "And tell Nora I'll bring her towel back next time I'm in."

Winter could wash it for her.

"No problem," Taiyang said with a nod. "Now if you will excuse me, I have work to do. Shocking I know."

Ruby laughed before leading Weiss back to the booth.

"Stay here. I'm going to go make a Crescent Rose."

"Can't you get them to do it."

"They'll do it wrong."

"Even Pyrrha?"

"Especially Pyrrha."

And then Weiss was alone again. Shivering she wrapped the pink towel around herself trying to ignore the fact she probably looked like a marshmallow. A few seconds later a mug appeared in front of her.

"Here you go Weiss," Jaune said awkwardly. "It's on the house... Obviously... I never specified before."

"Thanks Arc," she said without thinking.

He turned away, obviously a little disappointed. Weiss sighed.

"Wait," she forced herself to say. "Thank you... Jaune."

The blonde smiled at her.

"You are welcome Ice Queen."

"Don't push it."

* * *

Ruby - "So how was shopping?"

Ruby - "Without me."

Blake - "I said I was sorry Ruby."

Ruby - ":("

Blake - "I just haven't spent a lot of time with Yang recently. Between, work, college and Sun it's hard to spare a moment."

Blake - "I was just missing my best friend."

Blake - "I mean friend."

Blake - "Dammit."

Ruby - ":( :( :( :( :"

Ruby - "I'm willing to let it slide..."

Ruby - "If you make friends with Weiss."

* * *

 **Authors Note**

 **Spoilers for RWBY Volume 3 before you go further...**

 **Well that finale was a thing. I'm still trying to process most of it but if you are interested I have started writing a follow up to tide me over until the hiatus ends. Its called "Long Road Home" so I hope you'll give it a look.**


	7. Chapter 7

Weiss missed her baths. She had used to have them all the time back in Atlas. Nothing made her feel more relaxed than sinking into hot water and feeling invisible in the soft bubbles indistinguishable from her white hair and pale skin.

Winters apartment only had a shower and Weiss hated it. Standing in lukewarm water was just awful. It was like she was washing herself in the rain. It just reminded her how low her life had become.

The other day Weiss was pretty sure she had actually shivered in the showered.

Still things had been looking up for the most part.

It had been a week since her 'training session' and her first wages. Winter had, predictably, taken all of it and meticulously gone through to make sure that Weiss hadn't been ripped off.

Once she had confirmed that her sister had not been undersold, Winter had taken all her wages and put it into the bills and rent fund. An hour of arguing later, Weiss managed to convince her sister to give her a budget.

Next month she was just going to give Winter her share of the rent and nothing else. Just because Winter didn't have a social life didn't mean Weiss couldn't have one.

And not that she would ever admit it, the 'training' had helped somewhat. Her last shift on the floor she had only dropped one thing... That was impressive for her.

Jaune had finally taken the hint it seemed and stopped flirting with her, for the most part. He still stuck with the Ice queen but it seemed like everyone was enjoying that stupid nickname so she couldn't blame him.

To be honest, work had become almost tolerable. Well as tolerable as work could be. She still couldn't make most of the specials but she could now scoop a cone and make it look appetizing... That was also impressive for her.

The last of the hot water finally ran out, and Weiss gave up on the shower. The mirrors had fogged up preventing Weiss seeing her reflection. Hesitantly, she wiped it clear, staring into the pale reflection.

The scar was red and angry. The worst that it had been in weeks. Maybe months.

Glaring, Weiss turned away and stomped back to her room to get ready. Her good mood had soured dramatically and she wanted nothing more to go back to bed and bury her scared face in a pillow.

Her scroll buzzed as she entered the room. It could only be one person.

 _Hey you still coming today?_

Ruby, of course.

Beacon was closed today, so Ruby had taken it upon herself to organize the next group activity.

Although closed to the public, Ruby had informed Weiss that they were allowed to hang out there, as long as they kept it tidy. Shouldn't be too hard as long as they stayed outside and didn't make anything too elaborate.

Considering Ruby had been trying to convince Weiss to make her own dessert all week, this seemed unlikely.

 _Come on, I'll help you. It'll be fun._

Weiss stared down at the scroll, trying to think of a reason to back out. It wouldn't be the first time that she had cancelled plans because of her scar flaring up. Though that was mostly because she knew Emerald wouldn't miss a chance to point it out. Anything to garner Cinders approval.

Not that Weiss had been much better. At least Emerald hadn't been trying to impress Mercury at the same time as Cinder.

Reluctantly Weiss typed out her response.

 _Of course_

It was hard to say no to Ruby. It was like knocking ice cream out of a child's hands. Or maybe a puppy's. Dear god she had started thinking in ice cream metaphors.

Things had been going well after all. Her scar flaring up was just a speed bump. A little more make up than usual and it wouldn't be noticeable.

What was the worst that could happen?

* * *

"Add a little bit of whipped cream, a sprinkle of cherries." Ruby beamed. "And then you just pour a little bit-"

"Half the bottle," Yang yelled.

"Shut up Yang," Ruby shouted back, partially deafening Weiss in one ear. "And then you add a little bit of strawberry and chocolate sauce to decorate."

Ruby slammed the two bottles on the desk with a flourish.

"And that is how you make a Crescent Rose."

Weiss blinked. Ruby thought explaining her special would make things easier for Weiss to learn. It hadn't helped. If anything, Weiss was even more confused. It was the same with all the specials. She got as far as the scooping the ice cream and then her brain would melt.

But Ruby was grinning at her expectantly, so Weiss had to think of something.

"Umm."

"You didn't get any of it, did you?"

Like knocking ice cream out of a puppy's paws.

"Sorry Ruby. It's just not my thing."

Ruby sighed.

"It's fine." It didn't seem fine. "Let's just gets everyone's stuff ready."

Everyone else what outside already and they had volunteered to make everyone their drinks and desserts. Well Ruby had volunteered and pulled Weiss with her.

Bubble-gum ice cream with sprinkles for Nora.

A strange green drink that looked like seaweed for Ren.

Vanilla for Jaune.

Pyrrha didn't like to make a fuss so had told them to get her anything. Apparently she did every time so to combat her, they put Pumpkin Pete bites on it no matter what. Eventually even Pyrrhas patience would break and she would order something she actually wanted. They were still waiting for her patience to break.

Mango sorbet for Yang with a sprinkling of cinnamon to give it some heat.

A Crescent Rose for Ruby.

Cookies and Cream for Blake.

Weiss tried to have another tub of lemon, but Ruby was having none of it declaring it boring. Instead she had a slush puppy since the red head was mortified she had never had one.

Returning to the table, Yang stared dumbfounded at Ruby as she sat down grinning.

"I hate your metabolism little sis."

Ruby stuck out her tongue.

"You're just jealous."

The blonde just sighed.

"Pyrrha you work out as much as I do. Does it bother you my sister gorges like a pig?"

"Hey! "

"...kinda"

"Pyrrha!"

"It's just a little frustrating at times."

"One day your eating habits will catch up with you little sis," Yang said placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "On that day you will get fat and I will laugh."

Weiss ignored the bickering sisters and continued to hand out the desserts until she reached the hyperactive ginger.

"Thanks for the Weiss Cream, Ice Queen," Nora said with a cackle. "I didn't even mean that."

"Oh," Jaune said. "Can we call you Weiss Cream, if you hate Ice Queen?"

"No."

"I'm surprised Yang," Pyrrha said. "That sounds like something you would love."

"It never even crossed my mind."

"It's the reason Yang hired her."

"Blake!"

Weiss glared across at a sheepish looking Yang.

"Is that true?"

"What? no... Well not the only reason."

"You hired me because my name makes a stupid pun?"

"A great pun. That's not the point." Yang smiled. "I wouldn't have hired you if you seemed crap. I'm not irresponsible."

There was a pause from the group.

"Not when it comes to my job."

There was another pause.

"Not when it comes to hiring people."

Another pause.

"Man screw you guys," Yang muttered. "My judgment is great."

"Your love life says otherwise," Nora grinned.

"Hey. Name one-"

"The skater girl who called you fat," Nora replied without missing a beat.

"That was one time-"

"The crazy quiet one?" Ren said.

"Okay but-"

"The twins?" Pyrrha said.

"You dated twins?" Weiss asked as Yang collapsed onto the table.

"Oh no the story is even better than that."

The group dissolved into laughter at Yang's expense as Nora started to tell the story.

"So one time after work, Yang decided-"

The blonde snapped up pointing a glaring finger at Nora.

"Nolan."

The finger moved to Pyrrha.

"Cardin."

And onto Ren.

"May."

The three teasers fell silently into their drinks much to Weiss's frustration. Was she never going to hear any of these stories?

"Wait, what happened with the Twins?"

"Weiss, you do not want mess with me," Yang said, the finger now pointed at Weiss. "You will get burned."

Yang and Weiss stared at each other daring the other to back down until Ren suddenly said.

"What was wrong with May?"

And then the tension was broken as the group started laughing. Weiss joined in half half-heartedly. Another person she didn't know and another story she didn't really understand.

Despite Ruby's efforts, Weiss remained an outsider.

* * *

 _"Weiss can I talk to you?"_

 _The heiress blinked at the familiar voice. She turned away from Mercury and Cinder to find herself facing down judgmental brown eyes._

 _"Amber," she said uncertainly. "What's this about?"_

 _"Yes Amber," Cinder said silkily. "What's wrong?"_

 _Amber ignored her and Weiss missed the flash of anger that flared within Cinders eyes. No one ignored her._

 _"Is there a problem babe?" Mercury asked, his arm entwining with hers._

 _"No, Amber's a friends."_

 _And she was, ever since they were kids. They had shared most classes and Amber was one of few people who had as much pressure on her shoulders as Weiss did._

 _Weiss hadn't even been annoyed when Amber had been voted Head girl ahead of her. Not even a little jealous..._

 _"Alone Weiss," Amber said again. "Please."_

 _Rolling her eyes, Weiss turned back to her new friends._

 _"It's okay, I'll be back in a minute."_

 _Mercury gave her another kiss and then let her go. Smiling, Weiss walked over to where Amber stood._

 _"What is it then Amber?" She asked casually before noticing the disgusted look on her friends face._

 _"What are you doing?"_

 _"Excuse me?"_

 _"What are you doing with them?" Amber pointed harshly at the group. "Mercury? Cinder? Emerald? Are you insane?"_

 _Weiss glared at her._

 _"There's nothing wrong with my friends."_

 _"They are not your friends, Weiss. They are using you. Emerald torments people and Mercury is just dating you for the prestige. And Cinder is-"_

 _Weiss glared interrupting the girl's tirade._

 _"Why are you saying this? I like these people and you're just trying to take it away from me. I thought you were my friend."_

 _"I am your friend and I don't want you to get hurt Weiss. You cannot trust them and they will drop you like your nothing if it suits them."_

 _"Screw you," Weiss muttered as she turned away. "I'll be fine Amber. You worry about yourself."_

 _"I'm just trying to help Weiss-"_

 _But Weiss wasn't listening. Turning away she stormed back towards her friends, hands clenched in anger. Sitting down, Weiss missed the slight smile shared between Mercury and Cinder._

 _"The nerve of her."_

 _"What's the matter Snow Angel?" Mercury said, pulling her towards him. "Head girl giving you a hard time?"_

 _"It's nothing," Weiss sighed leaning against his shoulder. "Amber thinks you are all using me."_

 _"Of course she would say that Weiss," Cinder said. "She's obviously jealous of you."_

 _"She is?"_

 _"Are you kidding," Cinder smirked. "You're beautiful, have a caring boyfriend and lots of friends. All Amber has is you and Head girl."_

 _It was true, Amber had always been somewhat a loner aside from Weiss. She had friends but not close ones. Her parents kept her too busy to cultivate deep relationships._

 _Hell the only reason Weiss and Amber were friends was because they attended most of the same parties and that misery had drawn them together._

 _"Maybe..."_

 _"Isn't she meant to be your friend?" Emerald asked. "Doesn't seem right to me. Maybe you should teach her a lesson."_

 _"We could help you if you want," Mercury said._

 _"I don't know..."_

 _"Come on Weiss, we want to help you," Cinder smiled. "Besides what are friends for?"_

 _"I suppose... as long as it was small thing."_

 _"Of course babe, we wouldn't hurt her."_

 _"Just bring her down a peg," Emerald smirked. "Maybe two."_

 _"We would just need to know things," Cinder said. "So tell us Weiss, what would she just hate? What does she fear?"_

 _Weiss shrunk back subconsciously, slightly concerned about how close the three faces had gotten._

 _But then again, Amber was acting like a bitch. Maybe a lesson in humility could be good for her. No one should be talking to her like that. Weiss had enough people in her life trying to control her without adding Amber to the list._

 _Hesitantly, she opened her mouth._

 _"Bugs," she said to the grinning faces. "Amber hates bugs."_

* * *

They had moved outside after Nora had started complaining loudly about the heat. Though loud and obnoxious, this had its benefits, the only reason that Weiss hadn't complained was because she couldn't risk the Weiss Cream melting jokes.

But it did mean that once all eight of them had crushed themselves around a table, Weiss had found herself face to face with Blake.

For a few seconds Amber eyes met blue, then Weiss looked quickly away. Their relationship meant nothing to either of them so why make it worse. Staying neutral was the best she could do.

Yang had turned on the radio and was now singing loudly, either oblivious or uncaring that she was completely tone deaf. Seriously, people were staring.

"Yang please stop," Ruby said.

The Blonde stuck out her tongue and continued.

"You think that, you'll break me-"

"Yang."

She started rapping.

"Melt them bitches down to-Ahh"

Leaning over the table, Weiss stuck a napkin inside the blondes mouth much to the groups amusement and gratitude. Spitting out the napkin, Yang glared at them all.

"Why is it pick on Yang day?"

Blake smiled patting her friends head sympathetically.

"We do it because we care."

Yang groaned as she leaned on Blake's shoulder trying to ignore the groups laughter.

"You're all fired... Especially Jaune."

"I literally did nothing."

"Especially Jaune."

The song ended fading into a newscast that made Weiss's blood run cold.

 _The Schnee Dust company has issued a statement saying that the recent attacks on their supply trains are in fact the work of the White Fang, though no word has been given on the magnitude of the theft._

"Animals," she muttered before she could stop herself.

Too late though, as one member of the group had picked up on it straight away.

"What was that," Blake said coldly.

The table had gone quiet. Glancing to her left, Weiss could see Pyrrhas slightly shaking her in warning.

"Nothing."

"No, go ahead. I believe that you were insulting Faunus Rights Activists?"

"Rights Activists?" Weiss couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her lips. "I think that they passed that line a long time ago."

"And what would you call them? Animals."

"Among other things."

"Such as?"

If Blake thought she would back down she was going to be severely disappointed. Weiss's reply was cold, pointed and unflinching.

"Criminals, terrorists and cowards."

"Weiss," Yang began but Blake didn't let her finish.

"That's rich coming from you."

"And what's that supposed to mean," Weiss said. "Seriously, what is your problem with me? I've done nothing to you."

Blake glared at her, before furiously pulling at the bow attached to her head. It fell to the table and Weiss stared at the black cat ears that adorned Blake's head. She was a Faunus. But that meant...

Oh no

"You're-" she stammered.

"What? An animal?"

"I didn't say that-"

"You didn't have to," Blake said. "Because you're-"

"Blake that's enough," Pyrrha said but too late.

"You're a Schnee. Your family has been persecuting my people for years. You made your fortune off the suffering of Faunus and you have the nerve to sit there and say you've done nothing."

Weiss opened her mouth to deny it. To say that it was a lie that Blake had made up to discredit her. It was slander. But she couldn't. The words died on her lips and all she could do was stammer.

All eyes were on her, looks of confusion and slight awe from the people who might have been her friends. But any chance of that was gone.

Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, had just be thrust onto stage and unveiled. There was no going back. And it was all Blake's fault.

"Weiss..." Ruby said softly. "What's she talking about?"

Blake was just like everyone else back in Atlas. Controlling her and taking away choices. Dictating her future What right did she have to tell her secrets?

"Blake," Pyrrha began but Weiss cut across her.

"You had no right to do that."

"No right? You called my people animals and terrorists yet you I can't call you by your own name? And you call us cowards."

"If I'm a coward then so are you Blake," Weiss said. "You stand there judging me while hiding your heritage behind a bow."

"I hide my ears because of people like you, Schnee. I hide them so that when I'm walking down the street I'm not treated like an exhibit in a zoo, at best. At worst I'm subjected to assholes wanting to give the pussy some cream."

Blake paused letting out a shaky breath and Weiss felt her hands clench against the plastic cup.

"But you wouldn't understand that since you have never faced any adversity in your life. You have lived the life of a pampered little princess and have no idea how cruel the world really is."

Weiss reacted without thinking, throwing the remains of her drink at Blake earning a hiss of shock that she barely heard over her own yelling.

"Don't you dare try to judge my life. You know nothing about me, nothing about my family and what they put me through. My mother died when I was eight, my sister left when I was fourteen and I was left with a father that wanted a legacy not a daughter. I had to be perfect and anything less was unacceptable."

Weiss stood up and started to run, ignoring the cries of the people she had left behind.

"Weiss wait."

"Don't go!"

She could hear them, Ruby and Pyrrha, but Weiss couldn't stop. She ran until their voices faded away only stopping when she finally reached Winters apartment. Fumbling with the lock, she pushed through the door and ran into her room.

Collapsing onto her bed, Weiss suddenly noticed the tears that were streaming down her face and she sobbed, a pathetic mess on the bed.

Her scroll was going off. A nonstop wave of texts and calls. Screaming in frustration she threw it at the wall and watched it shatter into pieces.

Just like her life.

* * *

"Weiss are you home?"

Winters voice carried through the apartment and if she didn't know better than Weiss would have thought she heard a slight tinge of worry in her voice. But she did no better. Weiss wasn't worth anyone's worry even if Winter was capable of the emotion.

So she remained silent. Her crying had long since subsided leaving her an empty shell. There was no point in tears after all.

"Weiss?" The door to her room opened and her sister appeared still in her work clothes. A sigh escaped her lips. "You're here, why weren't you answering?"

Weiss didn't answer hoping her sister would take the hint.

"You left the front door open when you got back, I thought something..."

Still Weiss remained silent but she could see Winter starting to look confused and maybe a little scared.

"I thought you were out with your friends. Why are you back so-"

"Get out."

Winter stared back at her, taken aback by her words. But still she said wouldn't leave.

"Weiss what happened?"

"I said get out," she shouted picking up her pillow and throwing it at Winter. "Get out."

An audible crack echoed through the room as Winter stepped back, her heel crushing a piece of Weiss broken scroll.

"Your scroll..."

"Winter get out and leave me alone," she practically screamed at her sister.

Jumping to her feet, Weiss shoved her sister out the room slamming the door behind her. Holding it closed, the young girl slid to floor as Winter continued to try and talk to her.

She had ruined everything.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been three days. Three days since the fight with Blake. Three days since she had been outed as Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Three days since her life here had been ruined.

Winter had kept trying to get her to talk but was having no luck. Weiss didn't want to discuss what had happened and she knew her sister well. Winter couldn't handle being emotionally supportive for long, so as long as Weiss stayed quiet, Winter would eventually crumple and leave her alone.

For three days Weiss had stayed in her room refusing to come out. Not even to eat or shower. Winter would bring her food and she would watch Weiss eat in silent. The best her sister could do to show support.

Sometimes she would try talking to her through the door, but Weiss refused to answer any questions about what had happened. She would reply shortly if Winter had to leave, acknowledging she had heard, but that was her limit.

Her sister seemed to have guessed at least some of what had happened. Her question had become more and more focused on her new co-workers and work. But despite her knowledge Weiss refused to talk about it.

* * *

Weiss was awoken from her despair induced stupor by the sound of three sharp knocks on the door. Not her bedroom door, the front door.

"Weiss can you get the door?"

Winters newest tactic. To act like nothing was wrong in hopes it would force Weiss to talk about it. It wasn't working and a few seconds later Weiss could hear her sister's footsteps and the front door opening.

"Umm hi," a familiar voice said. "Does Weiss live here?"

"Who are you?" Winter replied curtly.

"I'm Ruby," the voice said and Weiss sat up. "I work with Weiss."

How was Ruby here? How did she find her? More importantly why was she here? Did she just want to let Weiss know that they were done? Obviously all of them would side with Blake. Why else would Ruby be here?

"That's her room there," Winter replied and Weiss heard the front door. "I've haven't been able to get out of there."

Weiss didn't hear anything else, the two woman lowered their voices. Winter had probably remembered how thin the walls were and wanted to get information. A few minutes of silence and then she heard Ruby speak again.

"Weiss, can I come in?"

She didn't reply.

"Silence isn't a no."

The door cracked open and Weiss could make out the smallest flicker of silver eyes before Ruby opened the door and walked in. Winter stood behind her, awkwardly stoic as always in the presence of a stranger.

Then her sister sighed, closing the door and leaving the two girls alone. For a few moments nothing was said.

"So," Ruby said awkwardly. "Your sister seems-umm nice?"

Dear god, Ruby hadn't planned anything, had she? The red head had simply turned up at her door hoping to talk to her. How did she expect this to work at all?

"She looks like you, kinda. It's the most the white..."

Ruby laughed nervously.

"What are you doing here Ruby," she said finally. "And how did you even find me?"

The girl puffed out her chest, obviously proud of something and eager to deflect the conversation away from how awkward she was.

"Well you said you lived in the Atlas Accommodation so I knocked on every door until I found you."

"Oh, I thought you looked up my address in the personal files."

Ruby's face fell.

"That would have made more sense." She lit back up instantly. "Instead it will stand as my commitment to finding you."

"But why did you come here?"

"We were worried about you. You wouldn't answer your scroll and then we couldn't get through at all."

Weiss nodded towards her desk, where Winters had placed the remains of her scroll.

"Oh... You dropped it trying to answer?"

"I threw it."

"I guess you have the money..."Ruby said with a laugh that died quickly. "Too soon?"

"Why are you here?"

She just wanted Ruby to answer the question so she would leave. Let Ruby end what remained of this friendship and leave Weiss to her misery.

"I told you, we were worried."

"We?" she muttered.

"All of us."

"I doubt that."

"Blake feels bad about what happened. I know she does. It's just..." Ruby paused as though struggling to find the words. "It's just that her heritage is a sensitive topic for her. It's more complicated than you know."

Of course. This was her fault and Blake was blameless. It wasn't like she had started the fight. Weiss was the one to blame purely because of the family she was born into. That was fair.

"That didn't give her the right to-"

"I'm not saying that she was right... But you shouldn't have said some of the things you did...or throw your drink at her."

"I don't care. I stand by everything I said... Mostly."

For a few moments, Ruby didn't say anything. Weiss watched as the girl nervously fingered zipper on her hoodie.

"Weiss can I ask you something?"

She laughed. She couldn't help it. The question was absurd.

"You came to my home uninvited, I think we are beyond asking for permission."

"Do you hate Faunus?"

Ruby flinched back at the intensity of Weiss glare.

"No."

"Oh that's good," the red head said quickly.

Too quickly. Weiss felt her heart sink and she turned away from Ruby's gaze. Not even the

"You don't believe me."

"I do," Ruby said quickly. "It's just- Some of things you said..."

"I was talking about the White Fang."

"Okay."

"Okay?" she snapped to stare at Ruby accusingly. "That's it?"

Ruby just nodded, startles by Weiss's attitude shift.

"Really?"

"Yup," Ruby said. "If you say it then I believe you."

"That's naive."

"Are you lying?"

"No!"

"Then I'm not naive am I?"

"You are such a dolt."

Ruby just kept on grinning.

"Nope."

Weiss shook her head.

"You shouldn't be doing this Ruby. I'm not worth your effort."

"I think you are."

"You don't know me."

"I think I do."

"Well you don't."

"Then tell me. Sure you can be cold and rude sometimes but so can everyone. You were really bad at work when you started but you never gave up. You always seem like you are trying to better yourself. Why give up now?"

"I used to have a friend Ruby. Her name was Amber. About the time my sister left, we grew apart and I found a new group of friends. Amber tried to warn me about them. To tell me that they were bullies who didn't care about me. I didn't listen. I got angry at her. I thought she was just jealous."

"I told my new friends about what she had said and they... they didn't like that very much. "

* * *

 _The last few notes of her singing echoed over the auditorium and Weiss could finally breathe. The piano finished off the rest of the song but already her applause had started._

 _Perfect. Not a single crack in her voice or a single flubbed note. Weiss had been flawless. Too bad father couldn't be here tonight, but she was sure he would receive praise for her performance. That was something at least._

 _With a final bow, Weiss started to walk off stage passing Amber as she did so._

 _"Weiss I-"_

 _She ignored her former friend. The two of them hadn't spoken since Amber's 'warning.' That was fine by her. Weiss had plenty of other friends so unlike Amber she didn't have to be so attached to her former ones._

 _As Weiss reached the wings, she felt someone grab her hand and pull her to the side._

 _"Nice singing Snow Angel."_

 _"Mercury, what are you doing?" she hissed quietly. "You shouldn't be back here."_

 _Despite her words, Weiss smiled as she hugged her boyfriend._

 _"You really liked it?"_

 _"Of course I did babe. That's why I came back here, I wanted to get a good view of the show."_

 _"Well let's go then. Shows over."_

 _"Oh not yet it's not," Mercury said with a smirk. "Keep watching."_

 _Confused, Weiss turned back to the stage to see Amber about to start her speech._

 _"Thank you all for coming, can we all give another big hand for that wonderful performance by our very own Weiss Schnee."_

 _The applause started again but this time it only lasted a few minutes and Amber continued to speak._

 _"Now I would like to welcome you all to our school and-"_

 _There was a loud creak from the spotlights and Amber talking confused by the sound. Turning her head upwards towards the source of the noise, her friend's eyes squinted at the light._

 _"Show time," Mercury whispered in her ear._

 _An oily black sludge fell from the stage lights, splattering against Amber who let out a shriek. The girl slipped backwards onto the ground as the students in the audience started to laugh._

 _Weiss couldn't help but join them and behind her, she could hear Mercury laughing loudly at the girl's humiliation. She had forgotten what Cinder had said about teaching Amber a lesson._

 _Part of her felt bad for her former friend but then she remembered how Amber had tried to control her and keep Weiss for herself. No Amber deserved this. If she thought she was better than Weiss then she deserved, as Emerald had put it, to be knocked down a peg or two._

 _Then she saw Amber staring at her from the floor, half her face completely obscured by the black sludge. A single brown eye was visible filled with a look of hurt and betrayal. Weiss remembered her friend and suddenly it wasn't so funny anymore._

 _Weiss's laughter died in her throat as she heard a second creak echo from the ceiling. A second later, a second substance rained down onto Amber and soon the auditorium was filled with sounds of Amber's screams of terror, at the bugs that were crawling over her._

* * *

 _"_ That's the type of person I am Ruby. My friend was trying to help me and I gave away her worst fear. I knew what these people were like but I didn't care. I was a part of their group so why should it affect me? Why should I care?"

Weiss paused letting out a shuddering breath. She tried to ignore the look of horror that Ruby had on her face. The look she deserved but couldn't dare face.

"And you know the worst part? I never apologized to Amber. I didn't tell anyone what happened. We got away with it completely and I stayed with those people. I stayed friends with them, ignored what they were and then they threw me aside like I was nothing."

"What did they do to you?" Ruby asked quietly.

"Nothing. Not really," Weiss muttered bitterly. She hadn't even been worth the effort in the end. "When I left my father I didn't have a plan. I was just angry and I needed to get away. I messaged Mercury, my boyfriend, and told him what happened. I thought I might be able to stay with him for a while. He didn't reply."

"I thought there must have been a mistake so I tried Cinder but I didn't get a reply from her. Nothing from Emerald either."

"I kept trying. I tried to phone them and in the end I got one message," she said bitterly. "From Emerald of all people."

"She made it very clear where we stood. I had just been a fun little plaything to them and if I wasn't a Schnee anymore then playtime was over." Weiss let out a hollow laugh. "Probably the only honest thing Emerald ever said to me."

"Weiss, I'm so sorry. That sounds awful."

"Ruby that's nothing compared to what they did to others. That was my fault and I deserved it for being stupid enough to trust them. Amber graduated school early because of what they did to her. She couldn't even stand to be in the same building as them. The same building as me..."

"Do you think they feel guilty?"

"Have you been listening at all?" she snapped. "They don't care about anyone but themselves."

"Then that's where you are different from them Weiss. You feel guilty about Amber but it wasn't your fault. You didn't ask them to do that. You didn't know what they were doing."

"That doesn't make it right. I could have done something."

"Maybe." Ruby moved closer to her. "But there is something you can do now."

Weiss didn't say anything. She knew what Ruby wanted her to do but she didn't know if she could. Telling Ruby all this had been hard enough and she actually liked Ruby.

Apologizing to Blake would mean opening up to her, possibly in front of everyone. Weiss would have to explain her life to someone who would probably just dismiss her anyway.

Weiss knew what some Faunus had to go through on a daily basis. Why would Blake care about her problems when the Schnee family had been undercutting and holding back Faunus rights for years. Her father was one of people who petitioned against raising the Faunus minimum wage to human level. He fought against giving them the same work benefits and the same working hours. If Blake didn't believe that Weiss didn't agree with him, then the whole exercise would be for nought.

"Where is Blake?" she said and Weiss saw Ruby smile.

She had made a mistake with Amber, one that she wouldn't make again. Weiss was tired of running from who she was. Blake would probably knock her down, but this was something she had to do.

* * *

They were at the beach. It hurt more than Weiss was willing to admit. She had half hoped that her argument with Blake would have disrupted their lives more. Maybe Ruby had lied to her and they didn't really care at all.

Maybe this was a mistake...

It was too late to back out now though, as Ruby had already taken her gently by the hand and pulled her towards the group.

Blake was reading by herself, the black bow back atop her head. It was so strange how foreign it looked now she knew what it hid. How had she not seen it before?

True, Weiss didn't have a great deal of experience with Faunus. The ones she knew were mostly through service but during her schooling, she had never had a class with a Faunus.

Ruby must have noticed her hesitation, squeezing her hand slightly before continuing towards the Blake. As they drew closer, Ruby let her go.

"You can do this," she said with a smile. "I'll take care of the others. Give you time with Blake."

Weiss forced a nod before walking on alone. God she felt like throwing up.

"Can I sit here?"

Blake looked up, eyes widening as she recognized Weiss. She opened her mouth and Weiss could see the anger threatening to overflow. Then Blake nodded.

Not waiting for her to change her mind, Weiss sat down.

The others had started a game of volley ball, Ruby's idea no doubt to give them space. It was amazing how transparent they all were. They couldn't keep a rally going more than two people they were so distracted trying to make it look like they weren't eavesdropping.

The monochrome girls had still said nothing to each other. Blake was clearly waiting for her, but Weiss was struggling to find the words. Swallowing, she began to speak hoping she could work it out as she went along.

"I-"

"I'm sorry," Blake interrupted.

"Wh- What?" Weiss said shocked. Had Blake really just said that? The girls face hadn't even flinched and the heiress thought she must have been hearing things. But then Blake sighed.

"I'm sorry for telling everyone who you are," she said. "It wasn't my secret to tell, so for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Blake sighed again, kicking at the sand. What should Weiss say? Clearly Blake wanted to say more.

"I know better than most why people run," the Faunus continued. "I've been hiding most of my life and you called me on it. It made me angry. I hated how right you were..."

Suddenly, the amber eyes were back on her.

"But I'm not saying I was wrong in my judgments. Maybe I don't know about you but I do know about the Schnees. So convince me Weiss, what makes you different from your father and all the others?"

For a few moments Weiss said nothing. Excuses and stories ran through her head but each seemed more pathetic than the last.

"I don't know..." she said finally.

"You don't know?"

"No. I thought I was but then I think about the things I have done. My sister seems to think I'm worth something but I really don't know."

"You've managed to convince Pyrrha and Ruby, why do you doubt it?"

"Pyrrha thinks she owes me and Ruby is..."

"Ruby is Ruby," Blake finished. "But you left the luxury of your old life to come here. Why?"

"Because it was a gilded cage. I left for selfish reason, not for anything worthwhile. My father wanted to control me and dictate my life, so I ran."

Blake looked at her, her expression unreadable.

"And your opinion on Faunus?"

"I don't care if your human or Faunus." Blake's face seemed to relax. "I had lots of servants that we-"

She closed her eyes, realising her mistake as Blake growled.

"I mean-" she sighed. "I won't pretend to know what your people go through but know that I don't support or agree with it."

"I guess that's the only thing makes my father and I different..."

The words came out cold and bitter. Weiss wasn't a racist and that was her only defence. Then Blake spoke again.

"I can think of one other difference." The words seemed almost reluctant. "You are at least trying to better yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"If you didn't care about being better you would have just stayed in your cage. You would have never of come here and you wouldn't be working at Beacon. As much it pains me to admit, you are not a terrible person Weiss."

"Thanks," she muttered while Blake shrugged.

"Baby steps."

"So what does that make us then?" Weiss asked. "Friends?"

"No."

Weiss laughed. At least Blake was honest. Brutally honest but honest none the less.

"It makes us a blank slate," Blake said. "But this time, I will actually try and get to know Weiss Schnee, instead of judging on what I think I know."

Weiss let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you."

"You know," Blake said with a smile. "You still did throw your drink at me..."

Weiss paled. She had forgotten about that. It had seemed kind of unimportant after everything else.

"I uhh-"

"What's that old saying?" Blake said gesturing to the milkshake she had been drinking. "An eye for an eye."

Blue eyes widened in shock as Weiss realised what the girl wanted. Blake didn't mean... But that wasn't fair. Weiss had thought they starting over.

"But-"

"Well you did ruin my shirt..."

Slowly, Blake picked up her drink and took of the lid. Lifting it above Weiss, she cocked her eyebrow as though waiting for her decision.

"If it helps, cookies and cream is my favourite flavour."

"Oh," Weiss scowled. "That makes it much better."

Grimacing, Weiss shut her eyes tight and bowed her head. Even if Blake didn't know why, she had this coming. A small cup was nothing compared to the humiliation she had put Amber through. In a way this was right. The universe balancing things out. Ugh she hated karma.

"Just get this over with."

A few seconds past as Weiss waited for her penance. Why couldn't she just get it over with? Did Blake just enjoy torturing her?

Then she heard Blake laugh. Cracking an eye open she looked up to see the Faunus smirking at her.

"Weiss I was kidding," she said. "I'm not that much of a bit-"

Without warning the groups volley ball slammed into the back of Blake's head and her drink slipped forward, covering Weiss in the in the ice cold milkshake. Words failed her as the drink dripped down her head.

Blake's hands covered her mouth as she stared at Weiss, mortified by what had happened.

"Weiss I am so sorry. I really didn't mean for that to happen."

Closing her eyes, Weiss counted to five trying to remain calm.

"It's fine," she said. "It wasn't your fault."

Turning her head slowly, Weiss glared towards the rest of the group. They stood shocked but obviously trying to contain their laughter. As they noticed Weiss glare, the ones on Nora's team slowly stepped away from her.

"Umm..." the ginger said weakly. "It was Jaune..."

Just breath Weiss. You just patched things up with Blake. Killing Nora now would probably put a damper on that. Stay calm. Just forget about the milkshake that is currently dripping down your face.

"Does anyone have a towel," Weiss said calmly. So calmly. So very, very calm.

"I got your back," Yang said grinning as she ran to her bag. "Guess this actually makes you a Weiss Cream eh?"

Okay, she tried her best. Now she was going to kill someone.


	9. Chapter 9

It had been two weeks since she and Blake had come to their understanding. Two weeks since Weiss's true identity had been revealed to everyone and, not that Weiss would ever admit it, she was feeling pretty great. No longer did Weiss feel like such a liar or some schemer wearing a mask. She could be herself and finally relax. She felt free in a way she hadn't felt in a long time.

However, there were some disadvantages. It was like Yang had been stockpiling rich girl and princess jokes just for this situations. Jaune was even more interested in her now he felt she was opening up.

But worst of all were the constant questions.

"So what's it like being a millionaire?"

Weiss sighed turning to the hyperactive ginger. This was going to be a long shift she could already tell.

"I'm not a millionaire," she replied hoping Nora would pick up on her tone. No such luck and her girls eyes merely widened in shock.

"You're a billionaire?"

"No."

Nora's eyes were the size of dinner plates.

"A trillionaire."

Groaning, she was saved having to reply by Ren's timely intervention.

"I think you are you going in the wrong direction Nora."

"Thank you," she muttered. "I'm glad one of you has sense."

Ren paused.

"But what is it like?"

Her head hit the counter with a thud as Weiss willed herself to spontaneous explode. If she concentrated hard enough maybe she could take out these two clods at the same time. A few seconds passed. It wasn't working.

"Umm excuse me don't you think you should be acting more professionally?", a voice from the other side of the counter said. "This is your job after all."

Weiss snapped up before her brain could react, meaning she didn't recognize the voice until it's owner was grinning at her smugly. Yang stood on the other side of the counter, dressed in her casual clothes and looking rather pleased with her impression of an irate customer.

Embarrassed by how much she had jumped, Weiss elected to scowl at the blonde hoping it would hide her red cheeks. Yang just rolled her eyes.

"Jeez Ice Queen loosen up," Yang said. "It was just a joke."

Weiss gritted her teeth.

"And it was just hilarious. Almost as funny as "Ice Queen" which you all insist on perpetuating."

"It suits you," Yang said with a casual shrug that made Weiss even more irritated.

"I can think of nicknames that would suit you that you would probably find annoying as well."

"Try me."

"Umm." She panicked as her mind drew a blank. "You Blonde Brute?"

"Brute really?" Yang said as Weiss floundered. "Is it because of my muscles? Have you been staring Weiss? It's okay, you're only human."

Weiss went even redder.

"Why you-"

"Yang how could you?" Nora yelled dramatically pushing Weiss to the side. "I thought we had something special and here I find you flirting with some white haired floozy."

"Floozy?"

"Sorry Nora," Yang said staring off stoically. "But I've got too much to offer to limit myself to one girl. You knew the risks. You flew too close to sun and you got burned."

"Nooooooo."

Weiss turned to Ren.

"How do you make them stop?"

"You don't," he said calmly. "You just wait for them to get bored."

"I heard that," Yang said, giving him an exaggerated mock glare. "So anyway, have you guys been busy?"

"No, not really," Nora said. "Weiss is just telling us what's it's likely to be a gazillionaire."

"That one isn't even a word."

"Oh that reminds me-" Yang started.

"This better not be another stupid question."

"It's not," she replied. "Your sister works at Atlas yeah?"

"Yes."

Maybe would this would be real question.

"So what is Caviar exactly?"

Weiss glared at them all.

"Why are you here Xiao-Long?"

"I'm here to let you all know that a Beacon will be closed tomorrow. Dad has to go out of town in the afternoon so we can't open again."

"Hurray," Nora cheered. "Free day off."

Weiss didn't really care. She hadn't been working anyway so it didn't really affect her that much.

"So I thought that we should all have a night out," Yang said. "We haven't had one since Ice Queen joined us."

"Ooo that would be fun."

"Sure I'd do that."

"Great," Yang said before turning to Weiss. "Do you know where Shade is?"

"I haven't even said if I'm going," she said.

"Well how could we have your initiation without you? Don't be stupid Weiss."

"Initiation?"

"Yeah, we all get drunk. We buy you shots and then you tell us all your embarrassing secrets. It's fun. Normally we would have had it by now but we kinda put it off because of..."

Yang trailed off as she realised what she was saying. Too late though, Weiss had worked it out. Blake wouldn't have gone so the rest of them wouldn't do it without her. It made sense they had known her longer but still it hurt her pride a little more than she cared to admit.

Things with Blake had improved at least. They could now maintain a civil if awkward conversation and had even shared a shift. True they had to have Pyrrha there to mitigate any potential arguments but it had gotten them through a shift without incident.

Still one night couldn't hurt. If things got tense, then they could just talk to someone else.

"I'll go," she said as Yang grinned. "But only if you guys stop with all the questions. It's an invasion of privacy and it's annoying."

"What questions are you guys asking?"

"How rich she is?"

"Was," Ren corrected as Weiss glared at him. "What?"

"Please just stop."

Nora shrugged.

"Whatever trillionaire."

* * *

Nora's silence lasted about five minutes of Weiss walking into the bar.

"So what is Caviar?"

Weiss glared at the ginger wishing she knew something about her to shut her up. No such luck though. Out of the entire group, Weiss still knew Nora and Ren the least. They lived together but weren't dating, despite appearance to the contrary. Between the two of them they talked at the rate of an average person and that was where her knowledge ended.

"Enough Nora," Pyrrha chided. "We don't want to make Weiss uncomfortable."

"Maybe you don't," Yang smirked. "I think it's hilarious."

"Thanks for the support," Weiss muttered sarcastically before noticing the red figure next to her sister. "Ruby, how did you get in here? You're only-"

She was cut off as Yang's eyes widened and Ruby quickly pulled her down into the booth. Lying undignified across the two sister's laps, she glared up at them.

"What was that for?"

"To shut you up," Yang muttered. "We don't exactly like advertising my sister is underage."

"And manhandling me was the best way to do that," Weiss said turning her gaze on Ruby. "Just telling me was too much?"

Ruby flushed slightly, awkwardly rubbing her neck.

"Sorry Weiss," she said. "I like your dress by the way..."

"Flattery doesn't work on the Ice Queen Rubes," Jaune said dramatically. "I should know."

He wilted under her glare.

"I didn't mean it like that," Ruby stammered as Weiss managed to arrange herself between the two sisters.

"I know what you meant," Weiss muttered. "But thanks anyway."

Ruby muttered something incoherent before turning away from Weiss. Odd. Ruby didn't normally act so quietly. She didn't have time to ponder it as Sun walked over holding a tray of drinks.

"Hey Weiss," he said as handed out the drinks. "I thought I saw you come in. I added your drink to the tab."

"Oh thanks... I guess."

He grinned at her.

"It's kinda pricey but I'm sure you can afford it."

Weiss scowled as Yang snorted into her drink. Ignoring the rest of the group, she turned to a sheepish looking Blake.

"You told him..."

"Yeah after our fight I kinda told him."

"And by 'told me' she means she ranted for about an hour," Sun grinned before catching his girlfriend's glare. "Uhh I mean... Oh looks like that table needs served. Gotta go."

And then he was gone leaving the group in an awkward silence. Weiss didn't remember social gathering being so difficult. She also didn't remember ruining them all just through her sheer presence. Maybe she should just go...

"Well this is awkward," Yang declared, suddenly standing up. "Time to break the ice."

"No Yang," Pyrrha said quickly. "We are not doing-"

"SHOTS," Yang and Nora yelled as one.

Pyrrha sighed looking around the table for some back up. She received none and so begrudgingly let the two girls go. A few minutes later they returned with three trays loaded will alcohol. Weiss paled.

"I thought you just meant one or two..."

"This is more efficient to Yang," Blake said as though this happened all the time. Knowing Yang, it probably did.

"How did you even get this much so fast?"

"It's a gift," Yang said before passing her four glasses. "Drink up."

"Why do I get four?"

"Because this is your initiation night out."

Dammit so it was. There goes the leaving early plan. In any case. Yang was insane if she thought Weiss was going to start the night with four shots before even getting to her first normal drink.

"It still seems excessive," she said.

"What's the matter princess?" Yang smirked. "Can't handle it?"

Wordlessly, Weiss picked up the first glass as Nora cheered.

* * *

Half an hour later, Weiss was starting to feel sick. Not because she was drunk, obviously, but because Yang had started to feed her some house specials that Weiss couldn't even read... But not because she was a drunk. They just looked unnatural and tasted worse.

To be fair though, the rest of the group wasn't that much better. Yang had been matching all her drinks and showed no signs of stopping. Ruby was veering back and forth between staring off into space and giggling wildly. Blake's eyes were transfixed on the bar waiting for Sun to finish his shift, like a cat in... Was that racist?

Nora was even louder than usual, practically bouncing in her chair. Ren didn't look too different but Weiss could tell he was probably one of those drunks who looked fine until the second they hit the floor. Jaune was hitting on a girl at the bar with even less tact than he usually had and Pyrrha was staring forlornly at him... Wait a minute.

Reaching over the table, Weiss poked the red head in the head to get her attention. Pyrrha jumped, startled by the sudden contact. Quickly she adjusted turning to face her with a look of wary bemusement.

"Yes Weiss."

"You're not drinking."

"I am," she said defensively. "I'm just not doing shots."

That was not acceptable. If Weiss was getting drunk, which she wasn't, everyone should have to get drunk.

"Why?"

"Someone has to be the responsible adult."

"What she means," Yang chimed in. "Is that Pyr-Pyr is a light weight."

"I'm not a light weight," Pyrrha protested. "I just had a bad experience with shots."

"Yeah you did," Yang laughed. "And once again you are welcome."

Pyrrha flushed the same shade as her hair but didn't elaborate. Obviously this was a private matter that Pyrrha would rather not repeat and as her friend, Weiss had a responsibility not to push her.

So she turned to Yang expectantly.

"So we know this guy named Cardin," Yang said as Pyrrha sighed onto the table. "And Cardin is an asshole to everyone but especially to Jaune."

Why was that important?

"So one time we are all out having fun. Even Jaune had managed to find a girl interested in him. Shocking I know."

Weiss giggled as she tried to drink through her straw. About ten seconds into it, she realised that her straw was not in fact blocked but she had just finished her drink. Thankfully, no one else has noticed.

"But at some point during the night, I realise I haven't seen Pyrrha in a while. Everyone else is hammered so I go to try find her and I find her in a corner sucking on Cardin face while he gropes her ass."

"Do you have to say it like that?" Pyrrha groaned. "It wasn't that bad..."

Yang snorted.

"Like you were in the right state of mind to know."

Pyrrha didn't have a response to that, just groaning as Yang grinned at her.

"What happened after that," Weiss asked. "Did you sleep with him?"

"No!" Pyrrha said, her face scarlet.

"And why was that?" Yang said smiling. "Who was your knight in shining armour that stopped you making a horrible mistake?"

"You did Yang."

"Yeah I did."

"What did you do," Weiss said, curiously.

"Well I'm slightly drunk and have just seen my normally responsible friend making out with the biggest dick we know-"

"You make it sound so much worse than it was."

"-So naturally I assume the worst. I pulled Cardin off her and punched him in the face. I felt kinda bad after Pyrrha explained it was mutual but I figure he had it coming anyway."

Weiss burst out laughing at the mental image. It was so absurd but it something she could easily picture Yang doing. This Cardin was probably lucky he hadn't tried it on with Ruby. The blonde probably wouldn't have left anything left of him if he touched her sister.

She couldn't help but wonder what Winters reaction would be if the they had been in that position. Would her sister be as proactive in looking after her, or would she let Weiss make her own mistakes and then lecture her later? The latter seemed more likely.

Pyrrha and Yang were still talking, the blonde teasing the red head relentlessly while she tried to desperately change the subject. Weiss didn't know who she should support. On one hand, Pyrrha was clearly embarrassed about the whole thing but on the other hand, it was really funny to see the invincible girl so flustered. Then suddenly a thought struck her.

"Twins," she said suddenly and probably slightly too loudly, so she quietly repeated. "Twins.

"Umm what?" Yang said. "You okay their Ice Queen?"

Any reservations, she had about asking for this story suddenly vanished at the use of the nick name she so despised.

"You dated twins... Or something. You wouldn't tell me what it was."

Yang suddenly paled and Pyrrhas mood seemed improved drastically.

"Uhh, we don't really need to tell that story..."

"Oh don't we?" Pyrrha said smiling. "So my embarrassing mistakes are fair game but yours are off the table.

"Ugh fine," Yang groaned. "But you're up next Weiss."

That didn't sound good for her but Weiss really wanted to hear this story. Worst comes to the worst, she could make something up. The blonde took the few remaining shots from the table and started to prepare herself as Pyrrha started to tell the story.

"None of us were actually here for all of this and Yang claims she was too drunk to remember it all."

"That seems likely," Weiss scoffed.

"Indeed but here is what we have pieced together from the night." Pyrrha cleared her throat. "So we when arrive at the club, Yang has been there for about an hour and is already fairly drunk. She's happy to see us but it's clear that her attention is elsewhere. Mainly on the pretty brunette in a white dress sitting in the VIP section."

Weiss frowned. That seemed like an unnecessary specific detail. She must know more.

"Is the White dress important?"

Pyrrha nodded.

"So this girl seems interested in Yang too but is playing hard to get. She seems like kinda a bitch to be honest."

"Stuck up girl in White?" Nora suddenly chimed in. "You should watch yourself around Yang Weiss."

Was that an insult or a compliment? Before she could make up her mind, Weiss noticed Yang smirk as the blonde turned her gaze on her.

"Sup girl?"

A distraction tactic, Weiss deduced proudly.

"Nice try," she said before turning back to Pyrrha. "Please continue."

Yang scowled as Pyrrha giggled.

"Eventually Yang wears her down-"

"I did not wear her down," the blonde said defensively. "She was just as interested in me."

"After Yang wears her down," Pyrrha continued. "I noticed them, to borrow a turn of phrase, sucking on each other's face while she sat on Yang's lap. A little while later, Yang meets up with us and is thoroughly pleased with herself."

"She was very hot in my defence."

"And you were very drunk." Pyrrha sighed. "Nora's right, she was very stuck up. I don't know what you saw in her."

"Nothing long term, I'll tell you that much."

The group groaned and Ruby almost gagged on her drink.

"Yang you said you would stop saying these things in front of me..."

The blonde only smirked giving a small shrug.

"Blame these two Rubes, they baited me into it."

"So Yang goes missing again and the next time we see her Yang is back with the girl," Pyrrha smiled. "Only now she seems to have changed into a red dress..."

Weiss started to giggle as she realised where this story was going. Twins... Oh Yang. The blonde looked rather annoyed as the group joined Weiss in her laughter.

"It's was an easy mistake to make. Militia should have said something. It's not my fault."

"But when Melanie came back and pulled you off her sister," Blake said. "You probably shouldn't have said I'm seeing double."

"Yeah that sort of behaviour would earn you a drink in your face and a slap... Oh wait."

Yang stood up, muttering something about needing another a drink before heading towards the bar. Weiss watched her go, feeling slightly bad about bringing up the story now. To the side of her, it seemed that Pyrrha felt the same way. The rest of the group seemed to have moved on their conversation.

"I didn't mean to upset her," Weiss said to the red head. "It just sounded like a funny story."

"Don't worry about it too much," Pyrrha said uncertainty. "Yang doesn't really mind and she started it with telling my embarrassing mistakes."

"I don't understand though. If Cardin is so bad why were you-"

Pyrrhas face turned as red as her hair as she interrupted Weiss before she could finish.

"It's like Yang said, I had too much to drink and I was thinking straight. No one's perfect."

The girl laughed nervously but Weiss didn't notice the way her eyes flickered to where Jaune sat talking to Ruby. Oh this was just absurd. Pyrrha couldn't have been trying to make him jealous. That just seemed beneath someone like Pyrrha no mattered how drunk she had been.

And for Jaune of all people. Sure he wasn't nearly as bad as Weiss had thought but she still couldn't imagine why Pyrrha was so fixed on him. He was nice enough when he wasn't acting an idiot. He was decent looking but hardly special. He wasn't dumb but neither was he particularly bright.

Jaune just seemed kinda average when Pyrrha was anything but. Good looking intelligent and kind yet apparently Jaune could drive her to pining after him like some love sick puppy. It just didn't make sense.

"Okay Ice Queen," Yang said returning with another round of drinks and her mood back to normal. "Your turn to reveal an embarrassing truth."

Dammit, Weiss had forgotten about that. Her mind desperately raced to think of a story but she came up blank. Maybe the drinks were starting to affect her. It was probably best to keep it vague and let them assume what they wanted, she decided. That way, it would be over quickly and they wouldn't have actually got anything on her.

"What do you want to know?"

Nora suddenly appeared very interested in the conversation and before long all eyes were on Weiss. Well that was just perfect.

"So you are saying we can ask questions now?"

Weiss glared at the smiling ginger. Dammit she was smug.

"Yes whatever. Ask away."

Oh she was going to regret this.

"How many floors did your house have?"

"Four."

"Have you filled a bath tub with money and lay in it?"

"No."

"Boyfriends?" Jaune asked.

"One," she muttered avoiding Ruby's eye. One person knowing was enough. "I don't want to talk about."

"Girlfriends?" Yang asked.

"No."

"Ever kissed a girl?"

"N-No"

Her hesitation didn't slip by and Weiss felt herself blushing at the raised eyebrows.

"It was a dare."

Mostly true. The fact that Cinder and Mercury had thought it would be funny for her and Emerald to kiss and make up literally after a fight was a detail she decided to leave out. It had been humiliating enough at the time and did not need repeating.

The excuse didn't seem to please Yang though. Obviously this version of the story less appealing than the one in her head.

"Boo," she said loudly. "But seriously guys, truth or dare?"

Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Must you flirt with everyone?"

"Yes."

"Red wine or white?"

"Depends on the meal obviously."

The group stared at her. Confused Weiss quickly replayed the conversation over in her head before realising just how elitist she must have sounded.

"I mean, white wine..."

* * *

They managed to get through the rest of the question without Weiss slipping into condescending or embarrassing. That was until she knocked over the remains of another drink and spilt it across the table.

It was about that time that Sun had appeared saying his boss was getting annoyed and it would probably be best if they left. No one put up much of a fuss considering it was getting late anyway and they were all kinda drunk. Well they were all kinda drunk expect for Yang. She was hammered.

Weiss was pretty sure that she had been two shots for every one everyone else did all under the guise of her 'initiation'. By the end of the night Weiss had reluctantly accepted she was slightly more drunk than everyone else but Yang has someone doubled even her. It was kinda impressive... Or scary she couldn't really decide. In any case, Weiss did not envy the blonde in the morning.

So the group had left each other outside the bar, dividing into taxis to get home. Blake had said she was staying until Sun finished in an hour or so. Pyrrha and Jaune lived near Ren and Nora so they were sharing, while Ruby insisted Weiss share with the sisters. Though that may have been more to stop Yang passing out rather than the fact they lived close by.

"If she throws up you're paying for it."

Weiss rolled eyes as Yang flipped off the driver. The blonde did look pale though, resting her head in her hands, groaning every time they took a corner. Their driver did seem rather erratic though. Her head was starting to hurt. She opened her mouth to complain but caught Ruby's eye. The brunette was staring at her pleading for her not to make a scene. Reluctantly she closed her mouth, slightly annoyed that Ruby was blaming her for this. It wasn't her fault he was driving like a lunatic.

Finally, they pulled up to a house that must belong to the sisters. The driver said some number that Weiss was sure was far too much but Ruby just told her to get Yang out while she paid. How were these two paying for everything. Weiss vaguely remembered something about Beacon subsidizing work nights out, but still this seemed like a lot.

Never the less, Weiss pulled Yang out of the taxi as the blonde incoherently mumbled something about the sun being too hot. Or something like that. It was hard to tell when all her muscles were screaming.

"How are you this heavy?" Weiss muttered.

"This much awesome is heavy."

"You are such an oaf."

"You need to work out more," Yang grinned. "Feel the burn Weiss. Feel the burn."

"Oh my god," she groaned. "Just get the door."

The blonde stood up, apparently not actually needing Weiss to support her. She would have been more annoyed but watching the brute fumble with her keys was rather amusing. Ruby seemed to disagree with sentiment though.

"Yang please just let me do it."

The brute stuck out her tongue at her younger sister.

"I'll have you know little sis," she said, far too loudly. "That I have the situation well in hand."

Suddenly, with the keys still in Yang's hand, the door swung open revealing a rather annoyed looking Taiyang. The three girls froze as he stared down at them.

"So how was your night?"

It was at that point that Yang retched, pushed past her dad and ran towards a door presumably to a bathroom. The sound of vomiting soon filled the hallway. Weiss really hoped it was a bathroom.

"Same as usual then," he sighed. "This is getting worse... Come on Ruby and... Weiss right?"

Nodding, Weiss awkwardly followed Ruby inside, half wondering if she should just make an excuse and head home. Winter would probably be getting worried and it was late. Without a scroll, she couldn't even send her a message. Then again, it was so late, that Winter would probably be asleep already.

Taiyang handed her a glass of water and Weiss drank it trying not to listen to the conversation Ruby and her dad were having about Yang. It just felt like she was intruding on a family matter even if it was just Ruby insisting her sister was okay. After a few minutes, Weiss spoke again.

"Listen Ruby, this has been fun, but I should probably go."

The brunette opened her mouth to protest but surprisingly, Taiyang beat his daughter to the punch.

"I don't know if that's a good idea. It's late and you shouldn't be going home alone."

Weiss flushed as she realised this was only the second conversation she was having with her boss. This was even worse than the first and he probably blamed her for getting daughter into such a state.

"Just stay here tonight and go home in the morning," he continued. "Just let your sister know."

"Yeah," Ruby said, before Weiss could ask how he knew about her sister. "You can sleep in my bed."

"What?" Both Weiss and Taiyang said simultaneous.

"Not like that," Ruby muttered. "I'll take Yang's; it's not like she's making it up the stairs anyway."

That made sense in a way. Well more like Weiss couldn't think of a reason to say no. Sighing, she looked over to Ruby.

"Can I borrow your scroll?"

"Do you even know her number?"

Weiss nodded trying to seem casual. The truth was that Winter had made her memorise it in case of emergencies. Weiss had said it was pointless but Winter had put her foot down. What if you get drunk and need to message me?

Dammit her sister was a witch.

 _Winter, I'm staying at Ruby and Yang's I'll be back in the morning._

The scroll buzzed before Weiss could pass it back and she frowned at it confused. It was half one, her sister couldn't be awake. Yet apparently she was.

 _Weiss? Where are you?_

The heiress rolled her eyes. She had just said where she was. Frowning she realised her last reply hadn't been quite as legible as she had thought. In fact, she had no idea what it was meant to say and she had written it three seconds earlier.

Taiyang must have noticed her annoyance and he casually plucked the scroll form her fingers and typed out a message. A few moments later there was another buzz.

"You are allowed to stay."

And there was her third humiliating interaction with her boss. Perfect. Still, she thanked him and followed Ruby up the stairs to her bed for the night. Entering a room on the left, Weiss found herself standing on a sea of clutter, messy clothes and a few weights. Judging from the yellow theme this was Yang's bedroom.

"I think Yang has some spare pyjamas," Ruby muttered. "I'll be here tonight if you need anything."

Weiss nodded too tired to speak. After a few minutes of rummaging in a cupboard, Ruby handed her pyjamas that consisted of black shorts and an orange tank top. Weiss just stared at them, much to Rubys confusion.

"What?"

"I can't wear- oh never mind."

* * *

Blake - So how are we feeling this morning

Yang - Just peachy

Blake - Really?

Yang - Yeah why do you ask?

Yang - Is Kitten feeling a little ruff?

Yang - :D get it? Ruff

Blake - Ruby already told me you've thrown up six times.

Yang - Traitor

Yang - But seriously

Yang - Did you get it?

Blake - Yes Yang. Ruff because I'm a cat. Racism aside. Not that funny.

Yang - Really?

Yang - Because Sun, who is lying next to you, says that you laughed.

Blake - Traitor

Yang - Hope I didn't land him in the dog house...

Blake - Please don't say it

Yang - That would be ruff

Yang - Nailed it


	10. Chapter 10

Weiss awoke to someone kissing her. They were soft and plentiful and as she lay in bed, eyes closed, the young Schnee heiress felt like she could lie there forever. Then something licked her and she realised something heavy was resting on her chest,

Sitting up, Weiss found herself staring at the thing kissing her. It was a corgi. For a few moments, the corgi and Weiss looked at each other, each waiting for the other to make its move. Then the dog barked happily before jumping off her lap and scampering out of the room tail wagging.

That might be the strangest wake up call, Weiss had ever had. Wait, why was she putting any ambiguity into this? It was without a shadow of a doubt; the strangest wakeup call she had ever had. Where even was she? This wasn't Winters- oh right.

A foggy memory came back to her. They had been out to celebrate her initiation into Beacon. This had involved drinks and shots... Lots of shots. Just the memory was enough to make her shudder as her body realised it should probably be hung over.

And that's when she got a head ache.

Groaning, she looked around the room, taking in the surroundings she had mostly ignored in an effort get to sleep as fast as possible. It was tidier than Yang's had been. Kinda surprisingly really, she would have expected Ruby to be as disorganized and messy but the floor was mostly bare save from a few items of clothing that Weiss soon realised were hers.

Where the clutter seemed to lie was on her desk and shelves. Every blank space was covered by pads of paper and various models. They all seemed rather violent for Weiss's tastes with the subject mostly revolving around different weapons and monsters. However, she couldn't deny the quality even if the art itself was rather grim. Some drawings were heavily stylized and others more realistic. Ruby was talented, there was no doubt about that.

Above her desk, Ruby had stuck what must have been her favourites as well as some actual photographs. One stuck out amidst the sea of violence and weapons. A simple photo containing what looked like an eight-year-old Yang proudly grinning on her father's lap, while a young Ruby was being held by a woman dressed in all white. It could only be her mother, the woman looked near identical to how Ruby looked now.

The photo brought a lump to Weiss throat. The photo looked spontaneous. Just a regular day for them but still they had been happy enough to know their joy should be captured. All of the Schnee family portraits had been painstakingly posed over hours to ensure the perfect image was created. Why couldn't she have had this? It wasn't fair.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, Weiss pulled herself from the bed and headed for the door, trying to repress her splitting headache. Someone was showering but she could hear the sounds of the TV down the stairs. Hopefully it was Yang or Ruby since Weiss didn't really want to have a hungover conversation with her boss.

Thankfully when Weiss descended the stairs the only person she found was Yang. The blonde was sprawled across the couch, wrapped in a blanket looking rather pathetic.

"Hey Ice Queen," she croaked. "Nice PJs."

For a moment, Weiss was confused before looking down and remembering what she was wearing. Well that was just great. Yellow and black weren't really her colours at the best of times but Weiss didn't know if she had ever even worn a tank top before, let alone shorts. They were just so-

She stopped the train of thought before it became offensive to her friends. Maybe it wasn't what she was used to but they had served their purpose as sleepwear adequately enough. They had been slightly loose on her but that was mostly due to the size of Yang's... assets.

Then she realised what Yang had called her and scowled.

"Don't call me Ice Queen. Seriously, it stopped being funny weeks ago."

"Maybe to you," Yang said with snicker that quickly developed into a groan of discomfort. "I just think... I think that-"

Weiss rolled her eyes.

"This joke is literally hurting you to say."

"Worth it."

"You are unbelievable," Weiss said as she sat down on one of the chairs.

She didn't really know what she was going to do right now. Winter would be working so she would be spared that lecture until later but the thought of spending her hangover stuck in an empty apartment was even less appealing. For now, Weiss decided to just stay here until she wore out her welcome.

Turning her attention to the TV, Weiss realised that Yang had been watching children's cartoons. She managed to bare a few minutes of the asinine colours before she had to comment. Catching her friends gaze, Weiss raised her eyebrow.

"Really?"

"I like them," Yang said simply.

"It means that when she has to run to the toilet to throw up for the eighth time in one morning," Taiyang said appearing from the kitchen. "She hasn't lost track of the plot."

"I'll have you know this has a very rich story... And it's only six times."

Taiyang looked like he wanted to say more but Weiss noticed her eyes flicker slightly to where she sat. Sighing he turned back to the kitchen clearly not wanting to talk to Yang about this in front of her.

"I'm heading out now," he said. "I'll see you later okay?"

"Kay."

"I love you." There was a pause. "I love you Yang."

"...Love you too dad."

Weiss suppressed a giggle at the blondes slightly red face. Taiyang gave one final wave before walking out the house, closing the door behind him. Weiss looked at Yang.

"How sweet."

"Shut up."

* * *

"Oh Weiss you're up."

Rubys voice pulled Weiss from her daze and she turned to find Ruby walking down the stairs toward them. Her hair was still wet from showering causing the red tips to stick to her face. It looked kinda... Why was Ruby giggling?

"Yes," she answered cautiously. "Obviously I'm awake."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you for letting me use your room."

"Anytime."

She was still giggling. Weiss was too hungover for this. What was so funny that Ruby wouldn't just tell- Weiss looked down before glaring at the girl.

"Really?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't play coy with me Ruby Rose. You gave me these clothes."

"I didn't think they would look so funny on you," Ruby said. "Yellow is not your colour."

Weiss let out at humph as Yang snorted.

"You both will tell no one of this."

"It's already in the group chat," Yang said lazily.

Eyes widening in shock, Weiss leapt from her chair and stomped over to Ruby. They girl was holding up her scroll, showing the crystal clear image of Weiss dressed in Yang's pyjamas and staring blankly at the TV. From the angle of the photos, it was clear it had been taken from the couch.

"When did you even take this? You're barely conscious."

Yang grinned before wincing.

"Not so loud please... or shrill."

"I am not shrill."

Stomping back to her chair, Weiss sat down wrapping her arms around her legs. The shrill comment hadn't really bothered her but it worked as a good distraction for her real issue. No one had ever mentioned they had a group chat. She may not have a scroll right now but there was no reason she couldn't have been added before.

Did they talk about her on the chat? Weiss felt her eyes narrow in suspicion. Of course they did. Yang had just posted a picture of her for goodness sake. She would wager that they talked about her all the time. Probably poking fun at how bad she was at her job. About her family life and her past wealth.

Her internal seething's were interrupted by something fluffy and heavy landing on her lap. Letting out a yelp of shock, Weiss stared down at the corgi that had woken her up.

"Zwei no," Ruby said.

"Zwei yes," Yang said.

Weiss ignored them both as she engaged the dog in a battle of wills. It was mocking her. Tilting its head to the side and panting like the adorable little ball of fluff that it- No stay strong Weiss. If you reward this sort of behaviour, then it will never stop. Must resist the cuteness.

Zwei let out a content bark and it was at that point, Weiss realised she was scratching its ears. Dammit. Well in for a penny... The corgi rolled over onto its back and soon Weiss was cooing softly as she rubbed his belly.

Then she remembered she wasn't alone.

Her head snapped just to see Yang's scroll disappear back beneath the blanket, a smug grin on her face. Wordlessly, Weiss picked up the glass on the table next to her and struck it against the surface. A loud sharp note rang out and Weiss sighed in contentment as Yang covered her ears with a groan.

"A lady should have better manners when she is a guest," Yang muttered.

"And a host should respect their guest's privacy."

"I didn't even post it yet."

Ruby rolled her eyes at them and Zwei barked again.

"Yeah I know," she muttered.

"Ruby you are talking to a dog."

"She does it all the time," Yang said. "At first I thought she was trying to freak me out but now I'm kinda concerned."

"Zwei understands me," Ruby said lifting the dog from Weiss and hoisting him into the air. "Don't you Zwei."

The corgi barked.

"See." Ruby stuck out her tongue. "You're just mad that Zwei doesn't listen to you."

"Yes he does," Yang said. "Zwei, come here boy."

The dog didn't move from Ruby's arm.

"Traitor."

Weiss shook her head, ignoring the throbbing pain reverberating within it. The dog was cute but it's cuteness was diminishing with every loud bark. Yang seemed to agree, finally pulling off her blanket and shakily rising to her feat.

For a second, the blonde just stood their eyes closed, looking like she was trying to fight the urge to throw up again. It was then Weiss noticed, Yang was still dressed in her clothes from the night before. That can't have been comfortable.

After a few moments, in which Yang managed to regain her composure she opened her eyes and started heading towards the stairs.

"I'm going to go somewhere quiet and sleep. If I'm not awake at six, wake me up Rubes. I have a date."

"Again? Reese just broke up with you last week."

"Plenty of fish if you cast a big enough net," Yang yawned. "I'll see you later Weiss."

"Good bye."

And that just left Weiss and Ruby alone. With nothing else to do, Weiss said nothing merely watching her friend play with her dog on the couch. After a few minutes though, it became clear that Ruby was starting to feel awkward.

She was wearing out her welcome and Weiss knew it. Ruby was too nice to ever ask her to leave but it was clear, Ruby didn't really know how to host her. She should really just leave and go back to Winters... alone.

"Ruby," she said suddenly. "Do you know any good breakfast places?"

* * *

As it turned out however, breakfast was off the table. By the time Weiss had showered and gotten ready, it was well past noon. Still Ruby said she knew a good Italian place so before long the girls were sitting down to order.

"Penna alla cream," Weiss ordered, falling gracefully into the accent. "And a glass of water."

"Pepperoni Pizza and a strawberry milkshake for me, thanks."

The waitress nodded before heading back to the kitchen. Weiss leaned back in her chair before curiously asking.

"What's pizza?"

Ruby's looked at her incredulously. Her mouth opened and then closed without making a sound.

"What?" Weiss said. "Is it a Vale specialty? Winter hasn't taken me to many places. She works too late most of the time."

Ruby just continued to stare at her.

"How do you not know what pizza is?"

"Is it common? Maybe it has a different name in Atlas."

"I don't think so..."

Weiss watched as Ruby started trying to explain the dish. For some reason this involved a lot of hand gestures.

"Okay so it's like a dough base with tomato sauce and cheese. That's just the normal type but you can get lots of different type. Normally meat or vegetables but you..." Ruby trailed off before she let out a sigh. "You know what pizza is don't you?"

The grin that Weiss had been trying to suppress broke free and Weiss had to cover her mouth to contain her laughter. Ruby huffed, crossing her arms as she leaned back in her chair.

"Very funny," the girl muttered.

"Oh come on," Weiss said. "I've had to put up with way more jokes. At least let me have my one."

"I don't make those jokes..."

Rolling her eyes, Weiss opened her mouth to retell one of the many jokes that Ruby had made about her past. But to her surprise, Weiss found she couldn't think of any. Not one princess joke or rich girl comment.

"Okay Ruby I apologize," Weiss said. "I won't do it again."

"Thanks," Ruby said brightening immediately.

They talked about nothing for a while until their drinks arrived. Weiss sipped her water marvelling at the way Ruby could always order the most sugar filled drinks and still stay in such good shape. Pyrrha and Yang worked out a fair amount and Weiss herself took great care in her diet. Ruby just seemed to eat whatever she wanted and still maintained the same size as Weiss did.

Speaking of which...

"My clothes are okay aren't they?"

"Yes they fit quite well." Weiss smiled. "And I think red suits me better than yellow."

Like her sister, Ruby tended to stick to a singular colour. It worked for her and with her own wardrobe made up entirely of white, Weiss could hardly judge her for it.

Not wanting to wear her dress from last night or walk around in Yang's pyjamas, Weiss had borrowed a black skirt and red hoodie. Not something she would normally wear but the heiress had to admit it was comfortable. She could understand why Ruby wore so many.

"I saw your drawings," Weiss said.

Ruby's silver eyes widened as her face went beat red. Instantly she quickly looked away from Weiss, staring at the ground to avoid her gaze.

"You saw my sketchbook..."

"No just the ones on the wall."

The girl seemed to relax at that but still wouldn't look at Weiss properly. Strange behaviour. She wondered what was in the sketchbook that could elicit such a reaction.

"Don't be embarrassed. They were pretty good from what I saw."

"You're just saying that."

"I'm really not."

"I'm okay," Ruby mumbled. "Nothing special though."

Weiss frowned. If she had known Ruby would act like this, she wouldn't have brought it up in the first place. She didn't understand what the big deal was. If you were good at something you should be proud of it.

Their food arrived before Weiss could say anything though. Deciding to leave the topic alone, she started to eat. Honestly it was pretty bad. The sauce was watery and the pasta overcooked. Ruby's pizza also looked rather greasy but Ruby was devouring it happily none the less. It made sense she supposed. Ruby had probably never had proper Italian food to be fair to her. It wasn't really her fault her palette was unrefined.

"Weiss, can I ask you something?"

"Depends on what it is. You already know more than most."

"It's nothing personal... Not really." Ruby paused. "I just wanted to know what you do when you aren't working."

Weiss paused. The truth was that she didn't really do much. If she wasn't working or doing something with the group, she just kinda hung about at home. Killing time wasn't really an acceptable answer but Weiss couldn't really think of an acceptable lie.

"Nothing really," she admitted. "I used to sing but not anymore."

"Why? Wait, never mind. You don't have to answer that."

Was she that transparent? Who was she kidding, of course she was. Every problem she had in her life came back to the same thing. Weiss could get hit by a bus and she would still find a way to blame it on her family.

"It's fine Ruby," she sighed. "But yes I haven't really sung since I left Mantle. I guess I lost my muse."

"I'll just have to help you find me a new one."

Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Just you?"

"Well," Ruby stammered. "The others can help. If they want. I just want to hear you sing I guess..."

"Tell you what," Weiss said with a smile. "I'll sing for you, when I see your sketchbook. Deal?"

Ruby shook her head quickly.

"No deal."

"Why not?"

"No one sees my sketchbook," Ruby said. "Not even Yang."

Frustrated, Weiss leaned back in her seat. The seed of curiosity had already latched itself inside her and she was determined to see what Ruby was so desperate to hide. It couldn't be a talent issue if she displayed some of her so brazenly on the wall. So what was the issue?

* * *

After they had eaten, Ruby soon left her. Her dad had left a list of chores and jobs for her to do and with Yang in her current state, it seemed unlikely she would be getting help. Weiss had almost volunteered to help just avoid going back to the apartment but had thought better of it. Ruby had seen too much of her vulnerabilities already. It was best she didn't know how weak Weiss really was.

So she paid for lunch, despite Ruby's reluctance and had started the wall back to Winters home. It hadn't taken that long even with incessant heat beating down on her. Dust she missed Mantle weather. Vale was far too hot.

And that's where she found herself now. Standing outside, the door staring down at the package that was waiting on the mat. It wasn't large, had express delivery and most curiously, it was addressed to her.

Who could have sent her anything? No one knew she was here. Even if Winter had gotten her something, she wouldn't have had it shipped under Weiss's name. Picking up the parcel, Weiss opened the door and walked inside. Placing the package on the table, she stared at it. What could it be?

She shook her head. This was ridiculous. It was just a box and she highly doubted there was going to be anything even remotely dangerous inside. She just had to open it and find out.

After a few more seconds, her hands obeyed her. Getting a knife from the kitchen, Weiss slid the blade down the sides, careful not stab whatever lay inside. With the seal broken, she opened the box revealing the contents inside.

It was a scroll and that meant there was only one person who could have sent it.

"Daddy," she said to the empty room.

* * *

It was late by the time Winter got back. Weiss was sitting in the couch half watching TV and half fixing her new scroll. Her sim card from her old one had thankfully been undamaged after her outburst so her contacts had transferred over fairly easily.

Ruby had seemed happy that they could talk easily again but Weiss had quickly regretted letting Nora know. Within five minutes of the first text, Nora had started asking her if she had ever held a sloth. Dust that girl was strange.

Hearing the door open, Weiss slid the scroll away and waited for her sister to call her. She had been dreading this lecture all day but there was no way to avoid it. Her only hope was that Winter would be too tired to make this last too long.

"Weiss?"

"In here," she replied standing up to look at her sister, eyes widening in shock at her appearance. "Winter you look-"

"I'm fine Weiss," her sister replied. "Just tired. It's been a long day."

Weiss swallowed trying not to look at the bags under Winters eyes or strands of hair that had escaped from its normally pristine bun.

"Anything specific?"

"Just the usual stuff. Usual people." Winter walked over to the fridge, pulling out a microwave meal. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No but Ruby and I had lunch. I might get something later."

Winter nodded. Closing the fridge, she pierced the film several times before putting it in the microwave. Weiss was getting nervous now, waiting for Winter to drop the hammer. But still Winter just talked.

"Where did you go?"

"An Italian place by the pier."

Her sister nodded.

"I think I know it. I remember it being pretty terrible."

"It was." This was getting infuriating. Time to bite the bullet. "Look about last night-"

"It's fine Weiss."

A list of excuses had been ready on her tongue but they all failed at Winters words. What did she mean? Wasn't she mad? Her confusion must have been evident on her face as Winter sighed.

"Look it's like you said last time," Winter said. "You're not a kid. You went out and stayed at a friend's. Nothing wrong with that."

The microwave beeped and Winter pulled out her food, ripping off the film with a little more force than usual. Clearly Winter was annoyed by what had happened but for whatever reason, she wasn't willing to fight about it.

"You're really not mad?"

"I trust your judgement Weiss," Winter said as she started to eat. "So I'm not worried."

"Good," Weiss said dropping back down onto the couch. "Glad to hear it."

It was hard to keep the annoyance out of her voice. Weiss hated silent judgment most of all from Winter. Her sister was meant to be worried about her. That's what elder siblings were for. Yang was so protective it extended to her friends and she had punched a guy for just daring to put the moves on Pyrrha. Why wasn't Winter upset at her? Did she just not care?

"I got a new scroll by the way," she muttered. "Same SIM card though."

"How did you get that?"

Her sister seemed genuinely curious for the first time that night. No doubt wondering where she could have gotten the money for it. Despite her annoyance, Weiss knew she should tell Winter it was from father. Her sister would want to know.

"It's Ruby's old one," she lied. "She upgraded recently so I'm borrowing it."

Yes, Winter would have definitely wanted to know. It was a good thing that she trusted Weiss's judgement then.


	11. Chapter 11

Never make a bet with Yang Xiao Long. No matter how easy it may seem, do not do it. No matter how much the odds may seem to be in your favour, resist the urge. No matter how much you wish to get her back for a previous wrong doing, cut your losses.

You will lose and the consequences will be severe. It was a lesson that all friends of the blonde had learned. Be it through making the mistake themselves or by witnessing the cruel fate befall another. It was just something that everyone at Beacon was aware of. Under no circumstances should you ever make a bet with Yang Xiao Long.

Unfortunately for Weiss Schnee, no one had told her that.

* * *

"And here is your coffee, no milk two sugars and your minerals water," Weiss said, shooting the customer a dazzling smile. "That will be 6 Lien."

The young man grinned handing her a note.

"Keep the change."

"Oh thank you so much," she gushed. "I hope you come back soon."

"As long as you're working here, why would I go anywhere else."

Weiss giggled as he turned away. She waited until he was out the door before letting her fake smile drop. Rolling her eyes, Weiss turned to find Nora watching her.

"Well that was just creepy."

"I know right," she said. "Some of these people are just so-"

"Actually I kinda meant you."

Weiss blinked in shock. What had she done?

"Excuse me?"

"You know the way you can go from so nice and warm to... well, Weiss in half a heartbeat. It's like there is two people in your head." Nora paused for a second, staring suspiciously at Weiss. "Are you two people Weiss?"

With Nora, Weiss still couldn't tell if this was a real question. Better safe than sorry.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

Oh for the love of Dust.

"Pretty sure."

"We could call you Nice Weiss and Ice Weiss."

Annoyed, Weiss let out a huff. Turning back to the till, she picked up one of the squirt bottles and started to clean the bunker.

"It's just a customer voice," she muttered. "Everyone has one."

"Yeah but yours is different."

"It's the same as yours."

"In the same way a mansion and a caravan are both homes."

"You mean mine is cultured and refined while yours is cheap and tacky?"

Nora nodded as those contemplating the comparison. Weiss was slightly disappointed. She had thought it was quite witty to be honest.

"Right," she said. "One holds great family experience and the other is strange, creepy and results in abnormal children."

Weiss scowled at the girl's grin. Unable to think of a smart retort, she simply elected to raise the squirt bottle threateningly. Nora just narrowed her eyes, practically daring Weiss to fire. Two souls engaged in a battle of wills.

It was at that point Yang walked back in from the kitchen. The two girls froze as their unofficial boss noticed them. Then Yang sighed.

"Guys I know Thursday isn't our busiest day," she said. "But some semblance of professionalism would be nice."

"Sorry boss," Nora replied with a smart salute. "I was just telling Weiss about her creepy customer act."

"I do not have a creepy customer act."

Yang smiled sympathetically placing her hand on Weiss shoulder.

"Weiss I'll tell you this as a friend," the blonde said. "You have a creepy customer act."

Scowling at her co-worker's laughter, Weiss folded her arms.

"You're just jealous that I get more tips than you do."

"All the tips get divided equally, why would I be jealous?" Yang paused. "And I could totally kick your ass if I wanted to."

"Oh really?" Weiss said, not backing down. "You wanna bet?"

Nora's eyes widened as she opened her mouth to stop Weiss making a huge mistake. But too late as Yang quickly raised her hand to silence her. Almost casually, she leaned back on the bunker and grinned at Weiss.

"You sure you wanna do this Ice Queen?"

Any reservations or doubt that Weiss might have had vanished under the usage of the nickname she so despised. Staring coolly at the blonde, she replied without question.

"Winner is one who gets the most tips in an hour."

"And the loser?" Yang said. "What's the forfeit?"

"Depends what you want to be doing, Xiao Long."

Weiss smirked at the blonde pause, not realising that what she thought was hesitance was in fact contemplation. For a few seconds, Yang said nothing as she thought of the perfect penance to punish Weiss with. Then she smiled.

"Loser gets a tattoo."

Weiss froze, her confident smirk vanishing at the thought of her perfect pale skin being blemished by black ink. Winter would actually kill her.

"What?"

"Winner gets to choose what it is." Yang smiled. "And where it goes."

She should back out now. Make an excuse about how it was immature and beneath her. Sure Yang would tease her in the moment and the rest of this shift would be unbearable as a result. But if it meant she could avoid getting a tattoo she could never rid herself of, it would be worth the hit to her ego.

Then again, being able to watch the look on Yang's face as she was subjected to that humiliation... The potential benefits of what she could do to the cocky blonde who surely expected her to back down. How could she resist?

Arrogant blue eyes met smirking lilac.

"You're on."

* * *

They made Nora the referee. They told her it was because she was impartial but truth be told, it was mostly because she was there. Not that Nora cared about that, committing herself to the role with gusto.

"All right I want a nice clean game."

"How would we play dirty in this situation?"

Nora ignored them, picking up the tip jar and emptying its current contents into a bag. Now they had a level playing field to start with.

"Weiss will go first and she has an hour to cheat, swindle and flirt to make as much money from tips as possible."

The heiress glared at the words while beside her Yang snorted. So much for an impartial judge.

"After her hour has elapsed, Yang will take to the stage. I will be keeping a vigilant eye out for excessive flashing-"

"What the hell Nora?" Yang said indignantly. "You're supposed to be on my side."

"I didn't choose the judge life. The judge life chose me."

Well it seemed the crazy ginger was impartial. She was just insulting them both. It was good enough for her. Weiss shot Yang a sweet smile as the blonde grumbled about unfair stereotypes.

"After her sinful hour of debauchery has elapsed," Nora continued. "I shall count both earnings separately and determine a winner."

"And then after our shift has finished," Weiss said smartly. "Yang can go get her new art piece."

"You wish."

"I might sign my name on you." Weiss lifted her finger and pointedly daintily to Yang's forehead. "Right here."

"Keep talking. You are just giving me ideas princess."

Weiss smirked as she headed to the till and prepared herself. All the training she had received in order to properly host and greet her father's business associates was all about to pay off. The young heiress knew how to flatter, flirt and fib her way to victory.

Yang didn't stand a chance.

* * *

Weiss stared down at the two piles of tips that lay in front of them in utter disbelief. The piles that she had just had Nora recount for the third time. The two piles each had a sticky note with the names and total written on each.

Weiss Schnee - 64.76

Yang Xiao Long - 68.05

"But that can't be..." Weiss began before the words died in her throat. "There must be some mistake..."

On her left, Nora was giving her a look a sympathy as she tried to console the white haired loser.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way Weiss."

On her right, Yang was looking less sympathetic. In fact, her grin was biggest that Weiss had ever seen it. Slapping Weiss heartily on the back, Yang sighed in contentment.

"Well it was a close one," she said dramatically. "I admit, in the last ten minutes when I wasn't getting any more customers, I was starting to sweat a little."

Weiss let out a whine that the blonde ignored as she continued her speech.

"But thanks to the noble efforts of that lone parched shopkeeper looking for one final cup of coffee, balance was restored. Truly, victory is in the simple things we have long forgotten. Things that required an awesome, more badass soul."

A hand was waved in front of her face but Weiss didn't even flinch. The hand moved closer, then snapped the fingers a few times trying to get her attention. Weiss didn't move not even when she heard Nora sigh.

"I think you broke her."

"Well that's what she gets for being so cocky. That'll teach her to tug on Superman's cape," Yang grinned. "See if you can reboot her Nora. I'm going to go book an appointment. Maybe look up some designs. Practise my signature. I actually liked that idea."

Not noticing (or possibly not caring) how pale Weiss had gotten, Yang walked towards the back office whistling as she did so. Once she was out of earshot, Nora once again tried to get her to react. Without warning, Weiss grabbed Nora by the dress, a mad look in her eye.

"She's just kidding right Nora? Yang isn't really expecting me to get a tattoo. That would be utterly ridiculous."

Nora's eyes were wide as Weiss continued to babble incoherently. For once in her life, the red head couldn't get a word in edgewise. She was being utterly steamrolled by Weiss's frantic fear.

"No. No. This is just a joke right? Right Nora? Yang just wants to make me sweat and then she'll let me go. Tell me that's going to happen Nora. Nora! Why aren't you answering me when I talk with my mouth?"

The red head sighed pushing Weiss off her.

"Look Weiss, this happens to everyone. You shouldn't make bets with Yang, it never ends well. I tried to warn you."

"What do you mean this happens to everyone?"

Nora didn't answer. Instead she just took out her scroll and flicked through it. Weiss wanted to knock the stupid thing out of her hands and make her focus on what was happening right now. Before she could though, Nora turned around showing the heiress a video.

The video showed a bath with Ruby sitting in it. She was dressed in what looked like her gym clothes and looked thoroughly miserable, with her face buried in her hands. Yang stepped into frame holding a large bucket and grinning broadly.

" _So Ruby here was convinced that she had better stamina than me. Ain't that right Rubes?"_

Ruby let out a small moan of the affirmative.

 _"So I challenged her to a run off. We would take a treadmill each and see who lasts the longest before needing to stop. The winner gets to fill a bucket with whatever they want and pour it on the loser."_

Yang leaned forward, holding up the bucket for the camera to see. Weiss almost gagged as stared through the screen at the thick putrid looking yellow liquid. She couldn't even imagine what it had smelt like. Poor Ruby, it would have ruined her beautiful hair.

Back in the video, Yang continued talking.

 _"So we went to the gym today to complete our little wager. Do you want to tell them who won sis?"_

There was a muffled replied from Ruby's hands, but Yang just let out a tisk of disapproval.

" _I can't quite hear you."_

Letting out a dejected sigh, Ruby raised her face from her hands and Weiss noticed for the first time that she was wearing goggles.

" _You won Yang. Please just get this over with."_

Eager to oblige, Yang raised the bucket and slowly poured over her sister's head. Ruby managed to last about a second before letting out a squeal of disgust, clearly audible even over Yang's laughter. And then the video ended.

"It's not the same," Weiss said quickly. "Ruby's is her sister and that forfeit was over after one shower."

Nora didn't reply instead going back to her scroll. A few seconds later a second video was up. This time the camera was focused on Blake, sitting at a table with a bowl in front of her. Whatever was in it, must be the cause of her slightly green face.

" _You know this could be considered racist?"_

From behind the camera, Yang's smug voice replied.

 _"You aren't getting out of this Belladonna, so don't even try that card."_

Letting out a growl of frustration, Blake stared back at the bowl in front of her. Despite her own current misfortune, Weiss was curious about what Blake would be eating. They were on better terms now but she still remembered the milkshake incident.

" _Do you want explain what's going on?"_

The question was so innocent sounding, that Weiss couldn't help but smirk. Blake had shot a glare just above the camera before starting to speak.

 _"So Yang and I got into an argument about what year the Beauty and the Beast came out and unfortunately I got my dates a little muddled. As 'punishment' Yang is making me eat a pouch of dog food."_

Yang must have picked up the camera as the screen suddenly repositioned to give a view of the bowl and the chunks of meat and jelly inside. Weiss gagged again. There had to be something wrong with Yang that she could think of these forfeits. this was family and friends, not a torture camp.

Gingerly, Blake picked up the spoon. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she quickly shoved it in her mouth. The effect was instantaneous with the Faunus girl dropping the spoon and covering her mouth in an effort not to throw it up.

" _Oh Dust that's disgusting."_

 _"It's beef flavour if that helps."_

 _"It really doesn't."_

Grimacing, Blake reached to take another spoonful.

"Okay yes that's pretty bad too," Weiss said after the video ended. "But it was a private affair so-"

Nora didn't give her a chance to finish. Already she had brought up another video. How many of these things were there? This time when the screen started it was Jaune face on screen.

 _"Ready Jaune?"_

 _"I can't believe you are making me do this."_

There was a snort of derision.

 _"The agreement was that the loser had to spend a night out wearing whatever the winner chose. Personally I think you look great."_

Staring at the screen, Weiss felt her jaw drop as the camera panned out to reveal Jaune wearing a white dress. He was looking rather sheepish about the whole thing unable to look fully at the camera.

 _"This is far worse than anything I would have made you wear."_

 _"Jaune I'm pretty sure one of things you said before losing the bet was that I would be wearing nothing at all."_

 _"Obviously a joke_."

 _"And the French Maid?"_

 _"Dammit Neptune."_

The video ended and Nora finally put away her scroll. It seemed she was finally out of videos of Yang's past victories. Not that made Weiss feel any better though. If anything, the series had only made her more nervous. Yang really wasn't going to let her out of this.

"But it's a tattoo," she said pleadingly. "Yang wouldn't make me get something I can't get rid of. It will be there forever."

Wordlessly, Nora glanced around, making sure that no more customers had entered the shop. Confirming they were alone, the red head lifted up the hem of her skirt revealing her hip to Weiss.

Etched into the skin was a pink love heart with a Norse hammer symbol breaking through it. Written in bold were the words 'Chat Shit, Get Yanged'.

"Turns out I can't bench more than Yang."

Weiss let out a whimper.

* * *

The final few hours of work were long and torturous. Just when Weiss thought she was safe, Yang would reappear with another crudely drawn design in hand. From Bumblebees to a monochrome chess set. A wolf to a bear. The designs were getting more elaborate and more outlandish.

"Okay Weiss how about a simple White Rose?"

She bit her lip considering the offer. A singular flower wouldn't be too bad. Depending in the quality of the artist it might even be considered elegant. Wait why was Yang still grinning.

"Where would you want me to put it?"

Yang raised her eyebrows innocently.

"Roses grow in bushes so I suppose it would have to go right on your pu-"

She was interrupted by an ice cream scoop flying through the air and Yang barely managed to duck in time. Weiss seethed as Yang sheepishly poked her head up from behind the bunker.

"Finish that sentence and I swear to god, no one will ever find your body."

"So that's a no?"

 _Clang_

"I just wanted to be sure."

* * *

Nora had bought her ice cream after the shift ended. That's how bad she had gotten that Nora had stopped teasing her. Depressed about the utter ruination that was about to occur on her body, Weiss had accepted without protest. Why should she even bother looking after her figure now anyway? She was going to be looking like a tramp by the end of the day.

An hour ago, Yang had gleefully informed them that, luckily, May had one free opening for the day. Once she had finished up in the office, they could head over and Weiss could face the results of her hubris.

Dejected, Weiss sat licking her bubble-gum ice cream while Nora tried to console her.

"It's not going to be that bad Weiss."

"Humph"

"Yang isn't going to make you get anything that you would really hate," Nora said reassuringly. "I actually quite like mine once I got used to it."

"Sure."

"Yup, I think it's hot. Ren likes it too."

Wait what?

Before Weiss could follow up on how Nora's roommate, who she wasn't dating apparently, liked the tattoo that Nora had on her ass, Yang burst out of the door. Locking it behind her, she practically skipped towards them as Weiss cast her eyes downwards.

"Still here Weiss?" she asked smugly. "I thought you would have bolted by now."

"I'm a Schnee. We keep our promises." She took a breath. "No matter what."

"Well isn't that dramatic," Yang said with a smirk. "Come on then. Let's go."

The three girls began their walk along the pier. Internally, Weiss was wondering if she had abandoned her family name when she had run from home. If that were the case, then she wasn't really a Schnee anymore so maybe she could break this promise.

The tattoo place did not inspire confidence in Weiss. It was a small hole in the wall type shop with dark tinted windows. Various designs and pictures of their clients, presumably, were showcased on the glass and above the door was a bright neon sign declaring the store was open.

Well she was here. No way that Yang would let her back out now, but maybe... Nervously she turned to the blonde and shot her a hopeful smile. Yang just smiled back, taking Weiss by the arm and dragging her inside with Nora following reluctantly after.

The door opened with a beep and Weiss was met with the distinct smell of ink and disinfectant. At least she wasn't going to get a disease from this place. The reception area was empty but Weiss could already hear someone moving around the back.

"Welcome to Grimm Creations," a girl wearing a beanie said, as she walked in. " How can- Oh hey Yang..." There was a pause. "Valkyrie."

"Zedong," Nora said icily.

Well that was strange. Looking to Yang for some explanation, Weiss just found her rolling her eyes.

"Play nice Nora," she muttered before turning to the artist. "Hey May, how's it's going?"

"Not bad. Long day of mostly touch ups." The girl grinned. "But if Valkyrie is the one who lost your bet again, my day just got a whole lot better. You said you'd let me pick this one."

"Heh heh heh, I never said that..." Yang grinned at the glaring Nora. "But it's not Nora anyway. She isn't stupid enough to make a bet with me twice."

Seemingly desperate to defuse the tension between Nora and May, Yang pulled Weiss forward obscuring them from each other's view.

"This is Weiss our newest member," Yang explained. "She's a tattoo virgin so you get to be her first."

"Nice, what are you getting?"

"I... don't know," Weiss said with a grimace. "Yang still hasn't told me."

Her face flushed pink, as May let out a laugh.

"Sounds like Yang. Come on them. Let's put you out of your misery."

Jerking her thumb behind her, May led the three of them to the back room. Weiss was sat down on a stool, while the other three conferred over Yang's design. Her stomach was full of butterfly's as she tried to pick up any information on what she would be receiving. No such luck though.

After a few minutes, May and Yang seemed to come to an agreement. May left to go get her supplies whole Yang took a seat in front of Weiss. She managed a few seconds of confident silence before nerves overwhelmed her.

"Well," she snapped. "What is it? What are you going to do to me?"

Yang just smiled.

"You'll see when it's done," she said simply. "Though to save some time, you should probably take your jeans off now."

So it was on her ass like Nora's then. At least it would be hidden. Letting out another whine of despair, Weiss resigned herself to her fate. She got halfway through unbuttoning before Nora spoke up.

"Yang, as much as I know you like seeing girls naked, I don't think it's necessary for a back tattoo."

Weiss glared at the blonde but Yang just shrugged innocently.

"Can't blame a girl for trying."

With great effort, Weiss managed to remain calm. Rebuttoning her jeans, Weiss crossed her arms and waited for the artist to return. It didn't take long and soon May was walking back in, a tattoo gun in hand.

"I assume you are cool with them here?"

"Yeah it's fine," she muttered. "Let's just this over with."

"You can't rush art." Weiss could almost hear the smirk in Mays voice. "This might hurt a little."

Before Weiss could retort the soft buzzing of the tattoo gun filled the room and she realised this was actually happening. She was actually getting a tattoo and she had no idea what it was. If her father could see her now, he would probably disown her.

May asked her to lean forward before pulling up her shirt over her shoulder on her left side. Then she felt a soft burning sensation as the gun was pressed into her lower shoulder. That was a small mercy, it seemed she would at least be able to cover it with most shirts. She could just never go swimming with Winter.

The entire process took about an hour. For most of it, Weiss didn't say anything as she tried to focus on the gun and maybe work out what it was. No such luck though. Trying to figure it out just based on where she was being marked was pretty much impossible.

Yang and May were talking casually throughout while Nora sat in a sullen silence. It seemed very out of character for the normally cheerful girl. Weiss couldn't help but wonder what the reason was for the tension. That worked as a welcome distraction. Maybe they were exes. It seemed unlikely since she was pretty sure Nora was straight. Still is passed the time and was fairly entertaining to think about.

And then, it was over.

"Alright Weiss," May said. "That's a wrap."

Weiss sat up, dreading what she was about to see. With a shaky breath, she looked into the mirror that would reflect her back. But instead of something vile and humiliating she was instead met with something else.

A single black snowflake sitting in the middle of two circles. Tracing her fingers over the tender skin, Weiss felt her breath catch in her throat. She didn't even hear Yang's chuckle.

"I thought it was fitting for the Ice Queen."

Still not quite able to believe it, Weiss still said nothing. On one hand, it could have been a hell of a lot worse and she doubted that if she had won the bet, Yang would have gotten away with something so simple. On the other hand, Yang had given her a tattoo for life.

Then she noticed it.

"What's that bit in the middle?"

What Weiss had thought to just be the centre line of the snow flake was in fact writing. A neat cursive print that clearly read 'Yang Xiao Long'.

Slowly the heiress turned to face her, a look of utter disbelief on her face. Yang didn't even have the decency to hide her grin. Even Nora and May were both trying to suppress smiles.

"Look at it this way," Yang said. "You're always carrying me with you now. It's kinda beautiful if you think about it."

"Do you remember when I told you that Schnees always keep their promises," Weiss said coldly. "I promise you, Yang Xiao Long, that you will pay for this."

Yang just let out a short laugh.

"I look forward to it."

* * *

Ren - "I can't believe you let this happen"

Nora - "Let what happen?"

Nora - "Oh you mean Weiss and Yang?"

Ren - "Yes"

Nora - "In my defence it was really funny."

Nora - "And it's not that bad a tattoo"

Ren - "That's not the point"

Ren - "You hated yours at first"

Nora - "It grew on me and her will grow on Weiss"

Ren - "Sigh"

Ren - "How was May?"

Nora - "Fine"

Nora - "She got fat though"

Ren - "Really?"

Nora - "And she smells bad"

Nora - "Probably hasn't showered in weeks"

Nora - "That would explain the spots as well..."

Ren - "You do remember she broke up with me right?"

Ren - "You don't have to be jealous"

Nora - "Why would I be jealous of a fat smelly girl with spots?"

Ren - "Never mind."

Nora - "Are we still having dinner tonight?"

Ren - "Yes but we are going to have to tell the others eventually"

Nora - "Boop"


	12. Chapter 12

_There was one place in the Schnee manor that Weiss knew she could hide. A small cupboard under the stairs that stored a few cleaning supplies. It didn't get used much and it was out of the way. No one would accidently come across her and no one would think to look there._

 _And no one would hear her crying._

 _The eleven-year-old desperately tried to wipe away the tears but to no avail. Today had simply been too much for her. Three hours of fencing had left her body aching and her father's constant scrutiny hadn't helped matters. By the time she had started her singing lessons her nerves had been shot._

 _Each mistake and reprimand had only increased the likelihood of more. When her father had finally given up on her for day she had barely managed to make it here before breaking down._

 _"Stop it," she choked out between sobs. "Just stop."_

 _But her body refuses her and tears continued to fall. Breaths came out in shaky bursts as Weiss struggled to breathe in the closet. If anyone found her like this..._

 _As if attracted to her worry, the door handle started to rattle. With no time to make her presentable, Weiss was forced to watch as the door to her haven was opened. She could only pray that it would be someone understanding. Not her father and certainly not-_

 _"Weiss, what are you doing in here?"_

 _Letting out a huff, Weiss turned away hoping it would be enough to hide her tears. Of course it would be Winter. Perfect Winter she thought bitterly. Father was only harsh to her because her sister always got things right. He didn't even bother watching her practices since there little chance of her needing help._

 _"Go away Winter."_

 _"You're upset..."_

 _It took all her self-control not to yell at her sister. Winter actually sounded confused. Could she really not understand why Weiss felt like this. Why she felt so useless next to Winter. Winter who was beating their sparring instructor at her age. Winter who could play four different instruments without missing a beat. Winter who never made any mistakes._

 _"Is this about dad?"_

 _"..."_

 _"He was just trying to motivate you."_

 _"It didn't work," she mumbled._

 _"I know," Winter replied softly. "Dad can have overly high standards."_

 _"I tried my best."_

 _"And you were more than adequate."_

 _Adequate._

 _Anger flared within Weiss at the patronizing words. Looking up sharply, Weiss found Winters hand hovering awkwardly over her shoulder. Trying to comfort her while being unable to bring herself to make a physical connection. Of course not._

 _Unable to stand being next to her emotionally broken sister, Weiss stood up. Roughly pushing past, Weiss started to stomp towards her room._

 _"Thanks Winter," she muttered darkly. "It means a lot."_

 _"Weiss wait, I didn't mean-"_

 _But she was already gone._

* * *

Weiss sighed as she stared out the window of Beacon and into the streets outside. It was raining. Extensively. Weiss could barely see the ocean from the downpour splattering against the glass.

Normally, Weiss wouldn't care. As long as she was inside and safe from the element, the young heiress tended to find the sound of rain therapeutic. Despite her months in Vale, she still hadn't acclimatized to the heat that was so common here and yearned for cooler climate of Mantle. If she was just relaxing outside, the heat was great but the moment she had to do something she felt like death.

Last week she had taken Zwei for a walk with Ruby and legitimately thought she might melt. Weiss had to lie down in the shade while Ruby drip fed her water. So while the pouring rain would normally be a welcome change, Weiss still found herself resenting it.

First and foremost because she had to walk to work this morning in rain and had therefore been thoroughly soaked by the time she had arrived. Her umbrella had been useless next to the morning winds and at one point, Weiss could have sworn the rain was rising from the ground. Secondly, after their regulars had bought their early morning coffees, Beacon had yet to entertain a single customer. Amazingly enough, no one wanted to buy ice cream in this weather.

And consequently the three girls currently on shift, found themselves utterly bored. Pyrrha could at least keep herself busy by studying for an upcoming test. Her nose hadn't been out of her textbook in the last hour. At least Weiss had finally learned that the red head studied structural engineering though she didn't see the appeal of metal work herself.

So Weiss and Ruby were doing their best to entertain themselves.

"If you could be any type of Faunus," Ruby asked. "What would you be?"

"Is this racist?"

"Nah it's fine, some of my best friends are Faunus."

Weiss laughed slightly before trying to think of an answer. Her mind drew a blank.

"I can't think of anything."

"Now that's racist."

"No it's not," Weiss huffed. "Just no animals really match my style."

"You could be a poodle. Or a polar bear or a lamb..."

"You are just naming white animals."

"Well that's your style."

"What about you then," Weiss asked. "What would you be?"

"That's easy," Ruby said, puffing out her chest proudly. "I'd be a wolf."

"A wolf?"

"Yup with wolf ears."

"How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Because I'm fierce and loyal."

Weiss looked at the girl trying to imagine what Ruby would look like with a pair of dark ears atop her head. Would they also be red tipped? Either way, it seemed oddly fitting. Yeah, Weiss could imagine that. Oddly appropriate for little Red. But then again, where was the fun in telling Ruby that?

"I don't know," she said slowly. "Your loyal but fierce? Maybe you'd be better off as a puppy. Maybe a corgi like Zwei. He's cute."

Her bait didn't get the desired response however, only drawing a smug smile from Ruby.

"You think I'm cute?"

Weiss flushed red.

"I- I didn't say that."

"It kinda sounded like it."

"Ugh, you are such a dork."

"A cute dork?"

"Shut up."

An exasperated sigh broke through their chatter and both girls turned to where Pyrrha was sitting. Pen in her mouth, it didn't even look like the red head had noticed her annoyance at their noise. They were probably quite distracting and Weiss felt a little bad about it. This test was apparently quite important and she needed to do well. Weiss glanced at Ruby.

"What would Pyrrha be?"

A moment of paused before they answered in unison.

"Fox."

"I can hear you, you know," Pyrrha said with slight irritation.

"We know."

Groaning, Pyrrha dropped her head into her book. Weiss just smirked.

"Ears or tail?"

"Both," Ruby said. "Now that would be cute. She'd be such a fluffy fox."

"Okay, I'm calling it a day," Pyrrha said, pulling out her scroll. "Go clean up the back and I'll phone Mr Xiao Long. We haven't had a customer for an hour and a half. I'm sure he'll be fine with us closing early."

With a whoop of joy, Ruby practically sprinted into the kitchen eager to get home. Rolling her eyes, Weiss followed with poise and dignity. Just as she was about to pass through the door way however, Weiss heard Pyrrha mutter something to herself clearing thinking she was out of earshot.

"I would make a rather fantastic fox."

Stifling a laugh, Weiss moved to help her partner clean up.

* * *

Pyrrha left quickly with an apology but saying she really needed to study. Apparently she had only taken the shift as a favour to Nora. Seriously that girl was too nice for her own good.

And now with Beacon tidied and secure, Ruby and Weiss stood on the doorway arguing. it wasn't that surprising. The two tended to argue a lot. Not bad arguments, bickering would be more accurate but it didn't happen rather often. In her defence, it was mostly always Ruby's fault.

Like this time, where she was being entirely unreasonable.

"Ruby just get under the umbrella."

"No Weiss I'm fine really."

"It's pouring with rain. You'll freeze."

"It's not that bad."

Weiss turned her head and glared out into the weather. She could barely see two feet in front of her. Turning back to the brunette, Weiss raised her eye brow.

"You're right it's practically tanning weather."

"I'll just run. My home isn't that far."

"Just let me walk you home."

"But it's out your way..."

"Only a little, it won't take long." Weiss smirked. "Like you said, it's not that's far. Seriously, what is your problem?"

Ruby let out a groan before pulling her hood over her entire face. Through the red fabric, Weiss could just about make out a muffled voice. Weiss frowned.

"What was that?"

Sighing, Ruby relaxed her death grip on her hood, revealing a slightly reddened face.

"It's only made for one. We'll be smushed together."

"And?"

"It's embarrassing."

"You are such a dolt and I'm pretty sure you are meant to be seventeen not seven."

"I know."

"It's an umbrella not a dance."

"Well you're the one who said I'm cute."

"Oh don't start that again."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Weiss rubbed her forehead. She should just leave. If Ruby wanted to act like a child, then that was her prerogative. Weiss shouldn't have to suffer for her idiocy. Just act like the Ice Queen they call you and walk away.

Then Ruby sneezed.

"Heh heh... Sorry."

With another sigh, Weiss stepped out into the rain, wincing as the water instantly soaked through her incredibly fashionable, non-water proof and hoodless Snow Pea. Walking three paces forward, Weiss turned on her heel and stared unabashedly at the gaping Ruby.

"Weiss, what are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Use your umbrella."

"No."

"You'll get sick."

"Yes I imagine I will," Weiss said, casually leaning on her umbrella. "And it will be all your fault."

Ruby whined and actually stomped her foot. She was actually a child. Well like the expression said. Know thy enemy. If Ruby was going to act like an infant, then so was Weiss.

Reluctantly, Ruby let out a huff and stomped towards Weiss. Flashing her a smug smile, Weiss pulled up her umbrella and two of them began their walk home. Victory was sweet. Of course, Weiss was still soaked so victory was also cold and wet.

And Ruby had been right in one regard. The umbrella really wasn't made for two people and water was seeping its way into their protective dome. Ruby wasn't helping the situation either determined not to be, as she had put it, smushed together. The girl was leaning as far away from Weiss as she could while still being out of the rain.

"I'm starting to get offended," Weiss said teasingly. "Most people would be happy to be this close to a pretty girl like me."

Ruby flushed red again and Weiss had to bite her lip to stop herself laughing. Sometimes it was just too easy to mess with her friend. Leaning even closer, Weiss pushing the barrier of what could be considered appropriate personal space.

As she did so, a drop of water fell from her hair onto Ruby's skin causing the girl to let out a shiver. In their close contact, the sensation travelled through Weiss and she felt her mouth go dry. Immediately, she increased the distance between them and Ruby looked up questioning.

"Weiss, are you okay?"

"Fine," she said quickly. "You were just colder than I thought you would be."

"Oh," Ruby said sheepishly. "Sorry. I told you not to do this."

"Ahh yes," she said forcing sarcasm. "In the rain you would be much warmer, you're right. Next time I will just leave you to catch a chill or possibly even drown in a puddle."

"Hey you're only taller than me because of your stupid lady stilts."

"So I should be penalized because you lack grace?"

"It's not fair," Ruby muttered, kicking at a puddle. "I drink milk, why aren't I taller?"

Weiss let Ruby rant, mostly just letting the words wash over her. Her heart was still pounding from the small brush with Ruby. What the hell had just happened? She hadn't had a feeling like that since...

The girl swallowed pushing the thoughts from her mind. It was just cold, that was all. She had just shivered and was red from the cold. That was all. She wasn't like that. Nothing had happened. Nevertheless, Weiss couldn't help but feel that the walk home was a lot longer than usual.

* * *

Predictably, Winter was in the flat when she got back. Of course she was. It wasn't like it was the weekend and Winter had a day off her gruelling job. Where else would she be on a Saturday? Sitting in the couch reading a book was the only logical thing she could be doing.

"You're home early?"

Hanging up her jacket and umbrella, Weiss didn't answer still distracted by her walk with Ruby. Not that there was anything to be distracted about. Nothing had happened after all.

"Weiss?"

"What?"

"I was wondering why you were home early."

"Oh yeah," she said dismissively. "Beacon closed because of the weather."

The response seemed to satisfy her sister who quickly went back to her reading. Maybe it was her already irritated mood but the gesture annoyed Weiss somewhat. Shouldn't Winter be telling her to changed out of her soaked clothes or something else sisterly?

Her scroll vibrated and Weiss glared down at her scroll to see Yang berating her for skipping off work. A few moments of seething and a half typed response later, Weiss realised that Yang was probably just trying to get a rise from her. Without bothering to reply, Weiss placed her Scroll slightly too hard on the table and stomped off to her room to get changed.

She knew she shouldn't rise to the blondes baits every time but it was seriously starting to test her nerves. Everyone said it was just Yang's way of showing she liked you, but Weiss couldn't help but think there were better ways of showing that. You know, like not branding your own name on their back. If Weiss had won that stupid bet, she would never have followed through... probably.

"Weiss, your scroll is going off."

"Just leave it," she shouted slightly to harshly. "I mean I'll get it in a minute."

Winter didn't reply. She must have gone back to her reading. Opening up her wardrobe, Weiss looked over her pitiful amount of clothes. What to wear? She still didn't have anything good for just hanging out in. Well at least she had something to spend her wages on.

Deciding she probably wasn't leaving the flat again today, Weiss settled on jeans and a T shirt, Weiss started to change out of her clothes. Her wet clothes clung to her and it took an embarrassing amount of effort to get her jeans on. As she was reaching for her shirt, she heard her sister yell, louder than before.

"Weiss can you come in here?"

"Just a minute," she called back, putting on the light blue blouse. However, Winter didn't give her much time before responding.

"Weiss now!"

Annoyed at being summoned, Weiss decided to make her sister wait. Putting her wet clothes up to dry in the radiator, she took the time to fix her hair slightly, before slowly walking back into the living room.

"What is it Winter?"

Her sister was standing by the kitchen counter her back turned. As Weiss spoke however, Winter turned and she noticed the look of restrained anger on her face. Then she noticed her scroll in Winters hand.

Heart beating slightly fast, Weiss tried to think what it was that Winter could have seen. Maybe Yang had messaged something else that Winter had misinterpreted. No she would look like this for that. She would hear Weiss our before making a snap judgment. No someone would have had to message something really bad for Winter to act like this.

Remaining calm, Weiss decided to simply feign ignorance.

"Can I have my scroll back?"

The casual request just seemed to anger Winter more as her blue eyes flared. What could she have seen that would make her act like this? A horrible feeling rushed through her. Could Ruby have messaged about before? Asking about that moment in the rain.

Weiss didn't know how Winter felt about that sort of thing, but if she had seen a message and leapt to a wrong conclusion.

"You don't even remember lying to me, do you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Winter."

"Your scroll Weiss."

"What about it?

"Your scroll is top of the line yet you told me your friend gave you her old one."

Weiss paled slightly as the realization hit her far too late. She had been so wrapped up in what had happen with Ruby she had forgotten she was hiding this from Winter. Hiding it so she could avoid this type of overreaction.

Averting her eyes from Winters accusing glare, Weiss stared at the ground.

"I was going to tell you," she began but Winter just scoffed.

"No you weren't."

"Yes I was," she said. "It arrived a few weeks ago and I needed a scroll."

"He knew that Weiss, that's why dad sent you it. He doesn't want you independent of him so he offered you something you thought you needed. And you took the easy way out," Winter said in disgust. "Just like you always do."

Weiss's head snapped up at the last comment. Maybe she should have told Winter but she would not stand here and be insulted by her sister.

"What does that mean?"

"You know what it means Weiss. When things get hard you take the easy option instead of the right one. You always have."

"That's not even remotely true."

"Isn't it?" Winter said. "What about Mercury?"

"Shut up."

Weiss clenched her fists as the anger started to rise within her. Winter didn't have any right to bring those people into this. She had only told her sister what had happened because she had to. Winter couldn't just throw it in her face any time she made a mistake.

"What about dad? What about your job here? What about the Faunus girl?"

"What about them?"

"You didn't fix any of those situations. With Dad you ran and you would have sat here until I pushed you to get a job. And then when things got hard there, you shut everyone out and without your friend you would still be sulking in your room."

Having had enough, Weiss turned around and started to walk back to her room. She wasn't just going to take this and clearly Winter had already make up her mind that Weiss made bad decisions.

"I didn't realise I was such a burden to you," she muttered dismissively. "In the future I'll try not to inconvenience you so much."

"Don't try and turn this around on me," Winter snapped pulling Weiss shoulder to turn her back around. "We are not done talking about this."

Shaking off her sister's arm, Weiss glared at her sister.

"It's a scroll Winter," she yelled. "Who cares where it came from? I needed one so I'll use it. It's not a big deal."

"It's a big deal to me and you knew that. You know how I feel about Dads money yet you took it anyway, because it was easier for you."

"Well I'm fine with taking it. I don't owe him anything and one scroll isn't going to make me go running back to him but it's good to know how low your opinion of me really is."

"This isn't about that that."

"It's a scroll," Weiss repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. What was so bad about it?

"That you didn't need."

"I do need it," Weiss said. "I need it for work and I need it for my friends"

"You were getting by."

"Barely and I'm not going to take social advice from you considering I made more friends in four months than you have made in four years."

"Enough Weiss."

"Seriously, does your contact list just consist of the letter W?"

"That's not- You are trying to get away from the point."

But Weiss had reached her limit. Winter couldn't expect her to just sit there and not defend herself. She had tried to make Winter see reason and she had tried to end the argument gracefully. Her sister hadn't let her so now Weiss was going to end it the only other way she knew how. By hurting her like only a Schnee could.

"No," she said quietly. "I think I do understand the point."

"Please Weiss enlighten me, since you are just so clever."

All reservations Weiss may have had vanished in a moment.

"You're jealous."

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it?" she said with a smile. "Four years you've been here and father hasn't tried to contact you once. I'm here four months and look how hard he's trying to get me back."

"Be very careful Weiss," Winter said, but the tone held none of the previous confidence.

"Constant phone calls and now he's even sending gifts."

"Stop it," Winter said quietly.

"All the efforts he's expending. It really must hurt to know how little he cares about you."

"Weiss!"

Undeterred, Weiss just leaned closer, enunciating the words slowly to extend the effect and make it all the more painful. Winter had brought this on herself trying to control what she did. She had started this. Weiss was just finishing it.

"And all because he loves me more."

"Well Mom loved me more!"

Winters eye widened in shock at the words that had her just escaped her lips. For a few seconds, Weiss just stood staring dumbfounded at her sister barely able to comprehend the words that had torn her heart apart. And then she turned and ran to the door ignoring her sister's pleas.

"Weiss wait, I didn't mean-"

But Weiss wasn't listening. Slamming the door behind her, she just kept running ignoring the fact she had left the scroll that had started this behind. Ignoring the fact, she hasn't picked up a jacket and the rain was continuing to pour. Weiss ignored everything trying desperately to stop Winters words from echoing around her head but to no avail.

She just continued to run, grateful for the rain that hid her tears. Tears for how quickly she had fallen back into the terrible person she once was. Tears for hurting her sister and tears for the words that Winter had retaliated with. But most of all she cried because she knew Winter was right.


	13. Chapter 13

It was still raining. Without her umbrella or coat to protect her, Weiss was soaked to the bone. Her ivory hair was matted to her head and her thin blouse might as well not be there for all the protection it gave. And her jeans were even worse, absorbing water and adding even more weight to her small figure.

Yet Weiss couldn't bring herself to care. She had long since stopped crying now just walking aimlessly and without purpose through the streets. The fight with her sister still fresh in her mind preventing her from being to think clearly.

Any time she tried to think about where to go or what to do, something else came back to her. How angry Winter had been and the look on her face when Weiss had begun to viciously attack her back. The poisonous words she relentlessly thrown at her sister. Her sister who had done so much for her.

Cinder would be proud, Weiss thought bitterly. This was just like Amber all over again. She hadn't learned anything. Only this time, Weiss had hurt someone who could hurt her back.

 _"Only because Mom loved me more."_

* * *

 _Dressed to the nines, Weiss was ecstatic. Six years old and looking like a princess from a fairy-tale, the young girl the was excited to spend the night the centre of attention of all her parent's friends and business workers._

 _Her sister on the other hand looked less than happy. Winter hated these types of nights. Her dress was far plainer as though it would allow her to blend in and go unnoticed._

 _A fools hope that Weiss didn't really understand. She loved talking, dancing and showing off for anyone who would listen. Which in these parties were everyone? Winter would always struggle, stumbling over her words and generally embarrassing herself. Then she would slink to a corner and say as little as possible until she was allowed to leave._

 _That was why Weiss was currently in her room. The young girl had hoped she would be able to cheer her sister up but was having little luck. Winter was in one of her moods where she would say nothing and have a constant dour face._

 _"It'll be fun."_

 _"For you maybe," Winter said trying to redo her hair for the third time. "I'll just end up looking stupid and then dad will get upset."_

 _"Who cares what the others think. Just do what you want."_

 _"That's easy for you to say. You're young, it's cute when you do that. I need to look... right for the business."_

 _She didn't sound confident and frankly, Weiss was getting a little bored of her attitude. Bounding up from her place on Winters bed, she headed towards the door but before she could reach it, it opened and their mother walked in._

 _"Mommy," Weiss said immediately. "Winter beings boring again."_

 _"I am not."_

 _Weiss stuck her tongue._

 _"Enough Weiss, stop bothering your sister," their mother chastised. "How are you feeling Winter?"_

 _"I'm okay."_

 _"It's okay to be nervous but don't worry, you'll do fine. You always do."_

 _Winter smiled slightly, though didn't look much more confident._

 _"Thanks mom." She paused slightly. "Do you think you could help me with my hair?"_

 _"Of course sweet heart," mother said with a smile. "Weiss do you mind going to find your father?"_

 _A surge of jealously and Weiss crossed her arms in protest._

 _"But I want you to do my hair too."_

 _"Your hair is fine dear."_

 _"But-"_

 _"No buts," she said with a note of finality. "Your father was looking for you and you shouldn't keep him waiting."_

 _Letting out a humph of annoyance, Weiss stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind her._

* * *

Weiss swallowed trying to push the memory from her mind. It had always been like that. Winter had always gotten preferential treatment just because she was awkward. A late bloomer that had been terrible in the social situations that Weiss had thrived in.

Their father had silently agreed and Weiss had always noticed the slight smile when she mocked her sister's mistakes. He would nod his head at mother's reprimands but just the fact he approved had been enough to spur her on.

Sniffing slightly, Weiss realised just how cold she was getting. She was dripping with freezing cold water and the rain showed no signs of shopping. The few passers-by brave enough to face the torrents were giving her strange looks as she trudged miserably through the town.

She had to go somewhere, at least until the rain stopped. But where? Beacon was closed. That's what started this whole situation. If it hadn't been raining she would still be working now and wouldn't have gotten into this stupid fight.

Ruby and Yang would probably let her stay. Hell there was no probably about it, they would put her up for days if she asked. Taiyang too wouldn't care either. But after that strange brush with the red haired girl, Weiss wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Besides after the last incident, Ruby probably already though she was a pathetic mess. She refused to be vulnerable in front of her again.

There was Pyrrha but Weiss didn't really know where she lived. It was student accommodation but apart from that, she wouldn't even know where to begin if she could even find it. It was the same with Ren, Nora and Jaune. Hell even if she knew where Jaune lived, Weiss would still probably stay in the rain.

But that meant that Weiss had nowhere to go. The realization made her heart sink. She would have to go back to Winter... No it was far too soon and her sister wouldn't believe she was actually sorry.

Stopping suddenly, Weiss stared at her pathetic reflection in a shop window. Winter was right. She couldn't do anything right. Every decision she made was selfish unless someone else made it for her. It was amazing that Winter had put up with her for this-

"Weiss?"

The young heiress turned around slowly, recognizing the voice of the work colleague she hadn't even considered. Sitting in a small black car pulled over to the side of road, sat Blake Belladonna.

"What are you doing Weiss."

Caught off guard by the Faunus's presence, Weiss remembered just how pathetic she must look. Her pride swelled within her as she refused to make herself look worse to the one Beacon employee she had yet to befriend properly.

"Nothing," she replied curtly. "I'm fine."

"Really?" Blake said raising an eyebrow. "So you are just standing in the rain staring at nothing for no reason at all."

"Just leave me alone Blake. I said I'm fine."

"Yes you did."

"Then le-"

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

"Why? So you can pretend to care then mock me behind my back?

"Is that the kind of person you think I am?"

"I don't know what kind of person you are since you've even tried to get to know me, despite your promises. You don't get to know all about my problems just so you can feel good about yourself."

There was a pause, with Blake clearly trying to work out if it was worth putting up with Weiss or if she should just drive away. Then she sighed. Almost reluctantly, Blake got out the car and walked round to stare Weiss down.

"Get in the car Weiss."

"No."

"Weiss you will freeze, get in the car."

"I said-"

"Weiss get in the car before I drag you into it myself."

She was about to laugh before seeing the look in Blake's amber eyes and realised she wasn't joking. Eyeing the girl quickly, she tried to size her up. Blake wasn't like Yang or Pyrrha. Yang was built like a tank while Pyrrha looked like a goddess. Blake looked fairly ordinary but something about the way she carries herself gave Weiss pause.

"I've had self-defence lessons Blake," she bluffed.

Blake just smiled.

"I hope they were good lessons."

Shivering slightly, and not from the cold, Weiss glared at the Faunus. Then wordlessly she stomped towards the car. Pulling open the door, she sat down in the chair and folded her arms. A few moments later Blake entered from the driver's side, a slight smirk on her face.

"Do you want the heating on?"

"Just drive."

* * *

The hot air started to fill the car and soon Weiss started to feel her body warm up. Not dry or comfortable by any stretch but it was far better that the outside torrent she had been subjected to. Just that was enough to make her feel less hopeless. Or perhaps it was simply the fact she wasn't alone anymore. Even if that person was Blake.

Her eyes flickered to the girl driving. Blake seemed to be concentrating on the road or maybe just didn't have anything to say to her. Despite the stalemate of an understanding that the two of them had come to, Weiss still wouldn't say they were friends. They could talk to one another if someone was present but that was about it. Their relationship still felt like a powder keg that one misplaced comment would set off.

"You're staring."

Weiss blinked shocked that Blake had noticed. She had thought she was being fairly subtle but Blake had picked up on it without taking her eyes off the road. That was some impressive instincts, even for a Faunus.

"I didn't know you could drive," she said. "Or that you had a car."

"There's a lot you don't know about me."

"Must you be so cryptic about everything?"

"I-" Blake looked like was about to protest but Weiss's surprise relented. "Sorry. I'm just a little slow to trust. That's not really saying much either, is it?"

"Not really."

"Don't take it personally. Even Yang and Sun don't know everything about me."

"Well my life is pretty much an open book now," she said. "Congratulations you are now part of the ever expanding club of witnessing my life's worst moments first hand."

Blake blinked, taken aback by her bitter outburst. Weiss looked away, unable to decide if Blake hating her or pitying her was worse. Turning away to try and distract from her weakness, she instead shivered from the cold, shattering the image.

"We're nearly there," Blake said. "You can have a bath back at my place. Might keep you from dying of hypothermia."

"I told you I'm fin-"

Suddenly she paused as what Blake had said caught up with her. Had she said bath? The thought of one of the small pleasures she had missed most was enough to quell even her pride. Hot soapy water, maybe some bubbles... Maybe Blake had a point, she didn't want to get sick after all.

* * *

A short sigh of contentment escaped her lips as Weiss slid down into the bubbles. It seemed that she and Blake had at least that much in common. A love of a nice long soak and (she sniffed the air) lavender if she wasn't mistaken. How long would she be able to stay in the water she wondered? An hour? Two would probably be pushing it, especially since she was a guest and she wasn't that close to her host.

The bigger question sat, looming, in her head. How long could she stay in the apartment in general? Would Blake let her stay the night? Judging from her character, Weiss suspected that Blake would probably want to hear her story first and even she knew, she wouldn't exactly come across as that sympathetic.

Weiss sat in the water until was cold and the bubbles were gone. Then she sat a little longer. It was only when her skin was really starting to prune that Weiss finally got out the bath. Wrapping herself in one of Blake's towels then taking the second for her hair, Weiss pulled the plug and watched the water flow away. It gurgled slightly as the last drops ebbed away and then there was silence.

Realising she couldn't delay any longer, Weiss hesitantly reached towards the door handle and stepped out into the Blake's bedroom.

It was a small room, probably about the size of her own. All it housed was a queen sized bed and a chest of drawers. The room was decorated unlike her own and although Weiss didn't know what any of it meant, it all seemed to suit Blake. And of course her one window doubled as a book shelf.

Some clothes were folded neatly on the bed and Weiss realised they were probably meant for her. Blake probably didn't want them to have a heart to heart with Weiss dressed only in a towel. Appreciating the sentiment even if all of Blake's clothes were slightly loose on her, Weiss quickly changed. Hanging up the towels, Weiss walked slowly into the main room.

Blake was sitting at her table, a book in her hand. It didn't look like she was really reading though. Weiss could imagine that having the heiress to a company that persecuted your species soaking in your bath would be a little distracting. She looked up when Weiss entered and for a moment they just stared at each other.

"How was the bath?"

"It was fine thank you," Weiss replied stiffly. "And thank you for the clothes."

"They look good on you."

Then there was silence again. Oh dust this was torturous. Weiss swallowed slightly taking the time to look around the apartment. It was... homely. It was just one room, hall, lounge and kitchen combined. Only one bedroom but she lived alone. Lots of books sprawled about on most counters. Some looked like college work but most seemed to be fiction.

"So," Blake said. "Are you going to tell me what's going on with you?"

All that time she delayed and Weiss still had no idea what she was going to say.

"Do you have any coffee?" She asked instead.

Blake raised her eyebrow but stood up.

"No coffee but I have tea?"

Upon seeing that was fine Blake headed towards the kitchen.

"What type do you want? I have "Let´s see... Blueberry, Raspberry, Ginseng, Sleepytime, Green Tea, Green Tea with Lemon, Green Tea with Lemon and Honey, Liver Disaster, Ginger with Honey, Ginger Without Honey, Vanilla Almond, White Truffle Coconut, Chamomile, Blueberry Chamomile, Decaf Vanilla Walnut, Constant Comment and... Earl Grey."

"Earl Grey," she replied, slightly confused by Blake's disappointed face. "What?"

"Do you know why I have this much?"

"You like tea?"

"Never mind," Blake sighed. "You want it black?"

"Milk if you have it."

"Did your family give you a choice in the whole white theme?"

Weiss glared at her.

"This coming from the girl with the fetish for black linen?"

"Purple linen is also acceptable." She smirked. "As long as its dark purple."

Despite herself, Weiss let out a laugh. A few seconds later, Blake returned with two steaming mugs. Taking a sip, Weiss took a moment to savour the taste. It was okay, better than Beacons but nowhere near the best she had ever tasted. It had been brewed too hot if she had to guess.

"How is it?"

"Perfect," she lied quickly.

Blake rolled her eyes before taking a sip of her own. Weiss waited nervously as Blake just stared at her. It was then that Weiss noticed Blake's ears were free from their bow. Whether it was just because she was comfortable in her home or around Weiss, she couldn't tell. For some strange reason Weiss was hoping it was the latter.

With a great deal of effort, Weiss managed to speak.

"I had a fight with my sister."

God that sounded pathetic.

"It was a big fight."

Oh that was much better.

Internally she groaned, waiting for Blake to laugh at her or the condescending eye role. Instead however, Blake said nothing. Her amber eyes just gazed at her waiting to hear all the information before rendering judgement.

"My father sent me a scroll. I knew my sister wouldn't approve so I told her Ruby had given me her old one. Earlier today she found out and we had a fight. We've never really had a fight before. She left four years ago and before then we weren't always close. Winter was always kinda distant and I could be... We weren't close."

She was opening up but it was far too late.

"Winter got angry at me and I retaliated. It escalated and I left."

"What did you say?"

The words caught in her mouth.

"Weiss."

"I told her that she was just jealous because... because our father loved me more."

"What did she say?"

"It doesn't matter."

"What did she say?"

"She said that mother loved her more."

"You Schnees sure are something," Blake sighed before going for her scroll. "I'll get Yang, she's good at this-"

Eyes widening in shock, Weiss reached out and snatched the scroll from Blake's hands.

"What the hell Weiss?"

"No one can know about this."

"Weiss, Yang can help. She's good at this sort of thing."

"No."

"She's helped me before."

"Yes I've seen. She made you eat dog food."

"I can't believe she showed you that."

"You're right, why didn't I go to her first? Maybe she can brand me again."

"Yang is-"

"An insensitive brute."

Blake's eyes flared dangerously.

"Do not talk about her like that," she snapped. "Just because you are having a bad day does not mean you get to sit here and insult my friend." Weiss withered under Blake's gaze until the girl took a deep breath. "Look Yang might not seem it on the surface but she is a complicated person and she can help."

"But that's my problem," Weiss said softly. "I always need help. I never fix my own mistakes."

"You did after our fight."

"Only after Ruby knocked on every door of the apartment complex until she found me."

"Why didn't she just check the employee list?"

"That's what I said."

"So what if you get help some of the time," Blake said. "That's not a bad thing and people who care for you aren't a problem."

"But it's not some of the time it's all of the time," Weiss said before letting her head fall into her arm and continuing softly. "I thought I was getting better but the moment things don't go my way I fall right back to square one."

"Change takes time Weiss. You can't expect to become a different person within-"

Blake was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Her brow furrowed in confusion for a moment before realization hit her as Sun walked into view.

"Hey babe, I was think that tonight we could-"

He trailed off as he noticed Weiss sitting at the table. He looked at both girls his eyebrow raised as Weiss realised he was probably wondering why his girlfriend was sitting with another girl, with said girl wearing Blake's clothes and wet hair.

"Is this a test?" he said slowly. "Or a reward?"

Weiss felt her face flush red.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" she said indignantly but before she could continue her rant, Blake quickly stood up.

"Sorry Sun," she said. "I know I said we could hang tonight but... something came up."

"It's cool," he said with an easy smile. "Neptune's always up for hanging and Scarlet just got-"

"It's fine," Weiss said. "I was just leaving."

"Weiss you don't have to go."

"Yeah really. It seems like you two are really getting along and I hate to come between girl on girl bonding."

"Sun really," Blake muttered. "Not now."

But Weiss had already stood up, heading to door with her mind made up.

"Weiss-"

"Blake it's fine really. Thanks for the tea... and the clothes but this is something I need to do alone."

"It doesn't have to be."

"Yes is does but really thank you."

Blake sighed before reluctantly nodding.

"Anytime..." Her brow furrowed as though she hadn't released she was going to say that. "I guess."

* * *

 _Weiss sat alone in the train station. She was shaking. Her scroll sat loosely in her hands, the last message still displayed on its screen. This couldn't be happening. It had to be a mistake. Sure she and Emerald didn't always see eye to eye, but this was cruel even for her._

 ** _I'll save you some time Weiss. You shouldn't have told us what happened, you might have gotten a few more days. But an heiress without an empire isn't much fun. Games over. Move on. Mercury probably already has._**

 _It was a joke. It had to be. Emerald was just being a bitch. She was probably just bored and wanted to have some fun at Weiss expensive. Mercury was probably just out of signal. Or away from his phone. Or he was busy. Cinder was probably the same._

 _It was just a coincidence they both hadn't replied yet. It had only been -she swallowed as she looked at the time- it had been hours. Oh god, what was she going to do? She couldn't go back to her fathers and she had nowhere else to go._

 _She had thought Mercury, Emerald and Cinder had been her friends. They had never cared about her money or her name. Well Weiss had normally been the one who bought things and paid for most thin- everything but that was okay, she just happened to have the most money. They didn't even ask; she just did it because it made sense..._

 _Amber had tried to warn her and now she had no one._

 _Feelings of despair and worst case scenarios filled her head and as Weiss stewed in her thoughts, she didn't even notice the figure approaching her until the shadow passed over her._

 _"What the hell do you want-" she stopped suddenly as she recognized the White haired woman standing before her. "Winter!"_

 _"Hello Weiss. It's good to see you."_

 _Weiss just stared up at her sister. It had been four years and suddenly her sister had just appeared out of nowhere._

 _"What... What are you doing here?"_

 _"I heard about what happened with dad."_

 _Glaring, Weiss shot her gaze to the ground again. It didn't even occur to her ask how Winter how she had heard about that so quickly._

 _"Come to gloat," she muttered bitterly._

 _"No I came to help," Winter said. "How would you like to live with me in Vale?"_

* * *

The door wasn't locked when she got back. A good thing too since she hadn't picked up her keys when she had left. But despite the lack of resistance, Weiss's hand had remained on the door handle, unable to push forward.

What if she did this wrong? If she said the wrong thing, then she could lose her sister forever. Weiss didn't want that. She didn't know when Winter had turned from the emotionally distant sibling, into her sister but it wasn't something she wanted to lose.

And if this went wrong it would be all her fault. Winter had only ever been supportive of her. Maybe too supportive at times but that was only because of Weiss's mistakes. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to open the door.

Stepping inside, Weiss was met with a cold breeze. Weiss shivered as she walked into the centre of the lounge.

"Winter," she said, before realising how quiet that she had sounded. With more confidence she tried again. "Winter?"

There was a few moments of silence and Weiss wondered if maybe Winter had gone out. And then she heard her sisters reply coming from the balcony.

"Out here."

Weiss swallowed. Her sisters voice was soft and tired. Heading towards the balcony, she pushed the curtain out of the way and stepped into the night.

Winter didn't turn, continuing to stare out onto the ocean. A glass of water and ice sat loosely in her hand. Then Weiss saw the glass bottle lying on the ground and realised the clear liquid wasn't water.

"Have you been drinking?"

As soon as the words left her mouth Weiss regretted them. She had come here to make things up to her sister and instead started with judging her. Thankfully though, Winter just let out a dry laugh.

"Yeah I know, I'm a hypocrite."

"I didn't say that." The bottle was rather large... and nearly empty. "You drank all that since I've been gone."

"Of course not. It was a..." She paused trying to find the right word. "Gift from a co-worker who said I needed to loosen up."

That didn't really make her feel better. Her sister didn't seem that drunk so judging from the liquid left in the bottle... How often did Winter drink?

"Where did you go?" Winter asked, taking another drink. "You were gone a while. Ruby? Pyrrha?"

"Blake."

"Which ones that? The Faunus?"

"Yes." There was another paused. "Look about what I said-"

"Its fine Weiss. We both said things we didn't mean. I shouldn't have pushed."

"But I should have told you," Weiss muttered. " I didn't because I knew how you would react. It was selfish."

There was a pause as Winter finished her glass, wincing slightly from the taste.

"Can I tell you something Weiss?"

She nodded.

"Anything."

"I was jealous," Winter sighed picking up the bottle and heading inside. Weiss followed silently on her heels. "I knew dad would be mad when I left. I even expected him to cut contact. I assumed he would do the same with you."

"He's just desperate. He knows he needs an heir now that both of us are gone."

"Probably."

"He just knows I'm an easier target," she said quietly. "He's knows that you are better at this sort of thing and knows that I'm more likely to give up."

"He's wrong," Winter said forcefully. "You just have to prove it to him."

"I- thanks. I'm sorry I said dad loved me more. It's just... It's just you always seem to have everything in control and I kinda makes me feel worse about how much I'm struggling."

"I don't have everything under control Weiss. I'm just trying to be a good role model since I'm not a good sister."

"Winter you are the best sister I could have."

"Thanks Weiss but I know what I am."

"Yeah, you're strict and you can be overly critical," she said. "But that's what I need. Before I came here people only ever told me what I wanted to hear. If they didn't I would just make them leave."

"Our parents were strict and overly critical," Winter said quietly. "I thought I was better than that."

"You are," Weiss insisted. "When you do it feels like you actually care about me and not what I can do for the company."

Winter smiled slightly opening her mouth before closing it again. She reached out to place her hand comfortingly on Weiss's shoulder. It was stiff and awkward but it was the best that her sister could-

Weiss let out a gasp as Winter pulled her into a tight embrace. The first hug she could ever remember them sharing. For a few seconds she was too shocked to react but then she smiled and returned the hug.

"You know I love you, right Weiss?"

The smell of vodka escaped her sisters mouth at the words. It was probably the only reason she was able to make this gesture. And Weiss didn't care at all.

"Yes Winter," she replied softly. "I love you too."


	14. Chapter 14

Her breath came out in ragged breaths as Weiss ran through the streets. In one hand she held a gun. The other was clenched in determination as she pursued her quarry. A certain blonde who had tried to shoot her. Lucky for her, he wasn't very fast.

"Freeze," she yelled, rounding a corner and raising her pistol. "End of line Arc."

Jaune stopping running, raising his hands above his head. Slowly he turned around a nervous smile on his face.

"Come on Weiss," he chucked though his eyes never left her gun. "You don't have to do this."

"And you didn't have to try and betray me. But you did."

"It wasn't personal."

"Kinda felt personal when the bullets were flying."

Weiss cocked the gun, aiming at his chest. Jaunes hands flew forward as panic entered his eyes.

"Wait wait wait, Weiss please. Come on, you don't have to do this."

"I know."

 ** _Bang_**

"I choose to."

Jaune stared down at the red liquid running down his chest. Slowly he raised his hands and pressed it to his chest. Then he fell to his knees.

"No," he cried ripping off his mask. "I can't believe I was first out again."

Weiss smirked, pulling off her own and letting her glee show.

"You know what, I can believe it quite easily."

Jaune failed to see the humour, scowling at her.

"See this is why we call you Ice Queen."

"Says the guy who tried to shoot me in the back. I'm lucky your aim is so bad but don't worry. You can join in the next game after I win this one."

"Great," Jaune said as he started heading towards the dead zone. "Another super competitive player."

Weiss felt her smile drop slightly and she called after the retreating blonde.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" She yelled. "Who else is competitive? I need to beat them. I want to win."

* * *

 ** _One hour earlier_**

 _Weiss felt ridiculous. When Yang had text her telling her that Beacon was closed for a team building exercise, she had expected something different. Something along the lines of trust falls or riddles about foxes, rabbits and lettuce. Maybe if things got really wacky she would be blindfolded and led through a maze._

 _She had not expected to be led to an indoor paintball arena, called Ports, Paintball Paradise, handed a pistol and a pair of goggles and told to saddle up. Yang had seemed disappointed when Blake had pointed out there was nothing to saddle onto._

 _After discussing the relative merits of horse paintball, then camel paintball and then animal cruelty, Weiss had finally interrupted the two friends telling them they were being ridiculous._

 _"I fail to see how this is team building."_

 _"Adrenaline brings people together," Ruby chirped. "Like soldiers in war."_

 _"It's a free for all!"_

 _"Yeah Weiss haven't you heard of the inseparable bonds of soldiers on opposite sides of the war have," Blake said dryly. "There are many books about it."_

 _"Funny," Ruby said. "It will be fun anyway and that will bring us together."_

 _"See you get it little sis," Yang said happily. "Ice Queen probably just can't handle the paintball."_

 _"Please," she scoffed. "Have you ever even held a gun?"_

 _Her words earned her stares from the rest of the group and Weiss rolled her eyes._

 _"I was joking obviously."_

 _"I don't know," Ren said warily. "You could have handled an antique or something."_

 _"Or Fox hunting," Nora said cheerily. "You know because you're-"_

 _"Yes I'm upper class so obviously I hunted foxes."_

 _Oh she forgot. Nora liked to take sarcasm literally and now was staring at her in horror and amazement._

 _"You did?"_

 _"It was clearly a joke," she exclaimed. "Why are you staring at me Pyrrha?"_

 _"You said I should be a fox..."_

 _With an exasperated huff, Weiss headed over to the counter to buy ammo._

 _"Let's just get this over with."_

* * *

Crouching behind the abandoned car, Weiss waited for Ren to walk into a view. For someone who was normally so quiet, he was surprisingly easy to find. Her eyes narrowed. Too easy.

Spinning around, Weiss found herself facing down the barrel of a pistol, a goggled face smiling down at her. A ginger haired grin of death.

"Hey Ice Queen," Nora chirped. "How's it going?"

Weiss glared at the causal use of the nickname. Just the use of the nickname and definitely not because she had been so easily out maneuverer. In any case, Weiss was in no position to do anything about it. It was time for her to accept her defeat with grace and dignity.

"This isn't fair," she pouted. "You aren't allowed to team up."

"There are no rules in war Weiss, you should know that."

It was over for her. One slip up and Nora had her dead to rights. She could only hope that everyone else as out and she at least took third. And then Nora made a mistake. She looked up to call her partner.

"Ren you can come over now. We got her."

It was just a second but it was all that Weiss needed. Slipping her hand behind her back, Weiss gripped her secret weapon. Then she caught Nora's eye and smile. The blue eyes widened in shocked as Weiss pulled the pin and threw the grenade over her shoulder towards Ren.

"Ren no!"

Without a hint of hesitation, Nora slid over the hood of the car and sprinted towards her partner. A valiant roar cry escaped her lips as she ran but far too slowly. The grenade exploded and both Ren and Nora were splattered with yellow paint. Nora's yelling was replaced by coughs and splutters as she spat the paint onto the ground. Then she keeled over.

"Ren I'm sorry," she choked. "I couldn't save you..."

"Yeah you probably should have just shot Weiss."

"There's more to paintball than just guns and paint," Weiss said seriously. "Know thy enemy and you will know victory."

Two paint stained faces shared a look.

"Someone else who takes this too seriously," Ren sighed. "Wonderful."

"Yeah it's just a game," Nora said still lying on the ground. "Now Ren carry my corpse to the dead zone."

There was a pause before Ren crouched down and lifted Nora bridal style.

"I don't know how I will continue on without you," he said without emotion.

"You won't be able to," Nora said, bopping his nose. "But seriously I think I swallowed some of that paint. I might need to throw up a little."

Weiss just stared at them as they walked away before letting out a sigh and turning to find her remaining competitors. What a bunch of dorks... Now she just had to track down her best friend and stain the ground with her blo-paint.

* * *

"Do you know why I wear red Weiss?"

Stalemate. Weiss and Ruby stood face to face, they paint pistols raised at each other. Twenty minutes of hunting each other and trying to get an edge. Twenty minutes of hard work and now it just came down to who would fire first. She couldn't lose focus here.

"No," she replied. "Is it because you like strawberry's?"

"Partly," Ruby replied evenly. "But it's mostly so my enemies can't see the paint on me."

Weiss resisted the urge to smile. War was no place for laughter. Laughter made you complacent and complacency got you painted. Weiss was no pad of paper... She was glad she didn't say that out loud.

"Enemies? I thought we were friends."

"We are friends but there is something even more important than that."

Weiss raised her eyebrow.

"And what's that?"

From the corner of her eye, Weiss caught a flash of yellow.

"That's easy Weiss," Yang said, pointing her pistol into Weiss's back. "And that's family."

Ruby grinned at Weiss. Carefully she raised her gun into the air and turned slowly so she could face both sisters.

"Team up to take me down. Smart," she said. "Wish I had thought of that."

"Good thing I did," Blake said stepping from the shadows and pointing her gun at Yang.

Weiss and Blake shot each other a smirk as Yang cursed and Ruby changed her aim to the new arrival. Weiss kept her aim on the girl, Yang on her and Blake on Yang.

"So this is how it's going to be Blake?" Yang said shaking her head. "You know she's going to betray you right? When the dust settles you are going to realise your chest will be covered in bright-" Yang paused. "Weiss what colour is your paint?"

"Red."

"I can't believe you stole my colour," Ruby said. "You know of my love of strawberry's."

"The point is Blake," Yang continued. "It's going to look like you actually got shot."

"Oh please," Weiss said, rolling her eyes. "Like you weren't going to splatter your sister with yellow the moment her back was turned. That's right I saw your paint. Know thy enemy."

There was a moment of pause and then suddenly Weiss pointed her gun at Blake as the Faunus did the same. A glance to her side let Weiss know that Ruby and Yang were now at odds as well. There was another pause and then everyone switched targets again.

"Well, well, well ladies," Ruby said with a dry chuckle. "Looks like we got a good old fashioned Mexican standoff."

"Looks like it," Weiss replied.

Her tone may have sounded confident but inside Weiss's head was racing. This could be difficult. At any moment they would all start firing and there wasn't a chance in hell she would get out of this without the tell-tale signs of yellow, green or blue adjourning her white clothes.

The other girls looked more amused than worried. Like this was some sort of sick game to them. The fact it was a game was irrelevant.

"Gotta say that I think we missed the point of the Beacon Team building exercise," Blake said with a smile. "What with the betrayal and all."

"Technically, I was just pre-emptively retaliating from my sister's betrayal."

"Funny I was gonna say the same thing Yang."

Weiss's frowned. They were all so calm and jovial. Didn't they realise how serious this was... Okay Jaune, Ren and Nora may be right and she was a little too competitive.

Her frowned deepened. Before their dea-eliminations, they had all mentioned someone else who was super competitive. She had assumed it would be Yang but the blonde was just laughing along with the other two.

But if it wasn't Yang, who was it?

Three sharp stings struck Weiss in the chest and she let out a shriek of shock. A second later, the other three girls let out similar yelps and Yang practically jumped into the air.

"Ouch, something bit me."

Staring down at the silver paint that now adorned her body, Weiss realised the game was over. She had lost.

"No," Weiss said stomping her foot in frustration. "I was so close. This isn't fair."

Glaring she looked around trying to find her murderer. There she stood, bold as brass with what was clearly a heavily modded paintball rifle. Pyrrha Nikos.

"I'm sorry," she said, not looking very guilty. "I guess I win..."

"Just say it Pyrrha," Blake said with a small smile. "We all know you want to."

"I don't know what you talki-"

"Pyrrha."

There was a brief pause before the champion smiled slightly.

"I guess I win... Again."

Weiss was still fuming. And mentally calculating how much it would cost to buy her own rifle. Maybe if she the same rifle as Pyrrha she could learn how it worked and then sabotage it next time. Okay she definitely had a problem.

"Best out of three?" she said hopefully. "It's really bringing everyone together."

"Sorry Weiss," Yang said. "One game only."

"No!"

"I don't mind," Pyrrha said. "Maybe you could team up properly this time. I might have a challenge."

Weiss fumed as Pyrrha turned away and sauntered off towards the dead zone.

"God I hate it when she acts like this," Yang muttered. "Who even owns a paintball rifle?"

"Her aim is unbelievable," Ruby muttered. "Last year I saw her nail Jaune to a tree at a hundred yards."

"Nice."

"Yang gross."

"If she gets like this why do you do it here?"

"It's still fun plus, Ports been coming to Beacon for years so he gives us a free game every now and again," Yang explained. "In return we let him test the new recipes we come up with."

"He's the only person beside Ruby I've seen finish a Crescent Rose," Blake said. "Most people don't get through the cookie layer."

"But I'm still only person who's had two."

"I wouldn't be proud of that," Weiss said playfully. "That thing weighs more than I do."

"I wouldn't be proud of that," Ruby mimicked. "You're practically a stick."

"Hurry up ladies," Pyrrha called loudly, the smugness evident in her voice. "I'm looking forward to my victory drink."

There was a pause as all four girls looked at each other, uniting against a common goal. Ruby cocked her gun as Yang reloaded and Blake began to stretch. Weiss just smiled. She had never claimed to be a graceful loser.

"So," she said casually. "Fox hunting?"

* * *

They left the paint ball facility in good spirits and many new bruises. Pyrrha had quickly realised what was happening and put up quite a fight. Despite their numbers advantage, Pyrrha was still good enough to hit each of them for every time they hit her. That was until she ran out of ammo and she had been forced to simply sprint to the safe zone.

By the time, they were all reunited Pyrrha had been practically polka-dotted with paint. Then, Pyrrhas final grenade had mysteriously gone off in her pocket drenching the girl in even more paint. Yang claimed she had no idea how the pin had ended up in her pocket. It was at this point that Pyrrha had good-naturedly agreed to not bring her rifle next time.

Despite all this, Weiss was still fuming at tying for second place with 3 other people. That really meant she was fifth. Jaune had pointed that he was technically fourth because Ren and Nora had tied for third.

All because of Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss had been worse than Jaune if you really thought about it. Ren had offered to check her math when she had voiced that particular theory.

So now they were hanging out at Shades waiting for Sun to get off work. Apparently he was bringing a friend that Blake said Weiss would like. If he was anything like Sun though, Weiss doubted it would be that meaningful a friendship. Sun was okay but after a while, she imagined his jokes would start to grate on her. It would be like dating Yang.

"How are things with you sister?" Blake asked, once they were settled. "Any better?"

"A little," she answered honestly. "We talked a lot the first night but since then we reset slightly. I think she feels awkward opening up to me and I'm not exactly-"

"Warm?"

"Caring?"

"Heartfelt?"

Weiss scowled at the grinning faces of Yang, Ren and Nora, the latter of which both still had slightly yellow stained faces from the grenade. After those comments though, Weiss no longer felt bad about that.

"Exactly," she replied coolly. "But things are better."

"That's good," Ruby said. "You've seemed happier in the past week anyway."

"No I haven't."

"Why are you arguing that?" Jaune said before she glared at him. "I mean; Ruby how could you say such an awful thing?"

"Better," she replied with a smile.

"Don't mind her Jaune," Pyrrha said. "She's just mad I shot her."

Weiss felt her eyes narrow, her pride demanding satisfaction.

"I challenge you to a duel."

There was quiet as the entire group turned to stare at her. Realizing she had just sounded like a swashbuckling romantic, Weiss flushed slightly, quickly clarifying.

"I meant at fencing."

"You know we kinda have a rule at Beacon against killing co-workers," Yang said. "Especially Pyrrha."

"Thank you for the concern Yang."

"What can I say?" the blonde said with a wink. "I like the views in Greece."

By now Weiss would have thought Pyrrha was used to Yang's relentless flirting. If they were female, beautiful or there, Yang tended to flirt with them. Despite knowing this and having experiencing it first-hand many times, Pyrrhas face still turned as red as her hair.

"I uh...that's lovely." Pyrrha cleared her throat before turning back to Weiss. "I don't fence anymore Weiss. It's wouldn't be much of duel."

"It wasn't much of a duel the first time."

There was a round of snickers.

"Very true," Pyrrha mused for a few moments. "Fine I'll do it."

Weiss blinked. She really hadn't expected Pyrrha to actually say yes. In any case Nora seemed excited, letting out a whoop at the thought of two of her friends having a sword fight. Actually knowing Nora, she probably hoped the fight would involve fire, ice and flying metal.

Maybe Pyrrha thought she would back down in front of the rest of the group. The rest of them seemed eager to see the fight but for some reason, Jaune had the barest trace of a smirk.

"When do you want to do it?" she said. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"How about now?"

"Perfect."

Why did she look so confident? Pyrrha had to know she didn't stand a chance. Weiss hadn't fenced in a few months. Pyrrha hadn't done it in years. Maybe her opponent thought that she could save face if she could get in a few hits. Well she was sorely mistaken.

"Hey Weiss," Jaune said innocently. "Don't you need a sword to fence?"

"It's called a foil and obviously I need one."

"Pyrrha do you have a spare?"

"No," Pyrrha said sweetly. "But I'm sure Weiss wouldn't have issue a challenge she couldn't back up."

What Jaune was implying finally hit her but Weiss could do nothing as the group suppressed their laughed. It seemed they were all willing to let this little charade play out entirely before enjoying her humiliation. Fortunately for her, Pyrrha was nicer than that.

"Let's just call it a draw shall we?"

"No," Weiss said, forcing the words out. "I... concede."

Well that shut them up. She was slightly offended by that fact but still it felt kinda right. The paintball had just been a game that Pyrrha had won. Then they had shot her a lot more. She shouldn't have tried to push it. That's what had led to her fight with Winter. Her pride wasn't worth that.

And she repeated that mantra in her head as her friends started to laugh. Don't rise to it. It's just a joke. Just play it off like normal people do. It's not a big deal.

This lasted about ten seconds.

"Why did you even need fencing for cereal commercials?"

Pyrrhas smile suddenly became rather forced. All eyes turned to the red haired girl who suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

"I uhh..."

"You did fencing for acting?" Yang said with a grin. "I thought it was just a hobby you tried for a little while."

"That does sound a little familiar," Nora said, her own smile even bigger than Yang's.

"It's really hard to say, it was so long ago..."

There was a pause and then Nora slammed her hand onto the table.

"You had other jobs beside Pumpkin Pete's!"

"No I didn't."

Pyrrha Nikos was not a good liar.

"Oh my god," Ruby practically squealed. "What else did you do?"

"It's really not worth talking about."

"Pumpkin Pete's required you to dress like a Spartan," Ren said. "And that's the one you tell people about."

There was a loud thump as Pyrrhas head hit the table.

"I swear I really didn't mean that," Weiss said quickly. "I didn't realise you had only told me it was for acting."

"I know Weiss," came a muffled reply. "But can I get my victory drinks now? I have a feeling I'm going to need it."

"Yes, Jaune get this woman a drink," Yang said before pointing at Nora. "You need to focus on adverts, Ren you handle modelling while Ruby and I try to find if she was on TV. Blake you have her trust. Abuse it and see if you can narrow this down for us. Go Team."

The next few minutes devolved into the group glued to their scrolls while Pyrrha desperately tried to get them to move on. Then Jaune returned and he tried to console her for a bit saying it wasn't that bad and they probably wouldn't find it anyway. That particular fact passed over the rest of the group but Weiss decided not to repeat that Jaune knew about Pyrrhas other jobs. Not even Jaune deserved that interrogation.

However, five minutes later when the conversation still hadn't started up again, she started to lose patience. This was getting ridiculous. No matter how funny it might potentially be the chances of any of them finding anything this quickly were-

"Found it."

Weiss stared up at Ren. He had said the words, so nonchalantly, like he had just found a dropped lien but Nora and Yang moved liked it was playboy shoot. Too bad they had to shut down that company after Faunus protests about cultural sensitivity.

Still she had to admit, she was curious. Ren and Nora had shown her Pyrrhas original advert and while funny to watch Pyrrha squirm it wasn't really that bad. It was just a twelve-year-old girl in costume repeating a dumb slogan. It was actually kinda cute.

Leaning over to where Ren had started playing the video. Maybe Pyrrha was just overreacting. This was probably going to be a rather boring exercise. And then it started and her jaw hit the floor. For a few moments no one said anything, too enraptured by what they were seeing to talk.

"Pyrrha what is this?" Yang said slowly. "And why are you floating on a red river of what looks like tree sap?"

"It was an advert for 'Forever Fall Strawberry Sap.' It was a dessert sauce," Pyrrha said. "It was very sugary and very unhealthy. They got shut down a year after I did the job."

"Do you know where to get some?"

"No Nora and for your own sake, I wouldn't give you it anyway."

"The production values are rather high on this," Blake said. "Is that a giant Scorpion?"

"Yes."

"And are you fighting it?"

"Yes Ren."

"This is the greatest thing I have ever seen."

"Thank you Ruby."

"I agree with my sister," Yang said, still in awe. "But probably for different reasons."

"I thought you might."

"Do I want to know you are all huddled around Ren's phones?"

The group jumped slightly before looking up to find Sun standing looking rather amused. However, Weiss didn't really care about that. What she cared about was the person standing next to Sun. A boy with blue hair. A very attractive.

"You must be Weiss," the newcomer said with a brilliant smile. "I'm Neptune. Pleasure to meet you, Snow Angel."

"Oh rookie mistake Neptune," Jaune grinned. "You should- Ouch"

Weiss ignored the looks she was suddenly getting. Yang at least found it funny she had just kicked Jaune under the table. Shooting Jaune a quick glare, Weiss turned her attention to Neptune.

"It's nice to meet you too."

"Sun told me a lot about you."

Weiss felt herself stiffen slightly. Would Sun have told Neptune who she was? It would make sense for him to prepare his friend for the daughter of a millionaire.

"Really?" she said trying to sound casual.

"Yeah," he grinned. "But he didn't say how pretty you were."

Weiss felt herself blush as she let out a giggle. Thankfully for her, she missed the sound of Sun and Jaune saying as one.

"Really?"

* * *

Yang - So you okay for covering Nora shift on Tuesday?

Jaune - Yeah, I'm not doing anything anyway

Yang - That's what I like about you Jaune

Jaune - My lack of social life and girlfriend?

Yang - I was going to say reliable, but sure let's go with pathetic

Jaune - Thanks

Yang - Hey I tried to help but there is a limit to even my wingman skills

Jaune - And your skills are legendary

Yang - My skills are legendary and I do appreciate that tone

Jaune - Yang all your girlfriends are terrible and last less than three dates

Jaune - Sorry that didn't come out right

Yang - It's fine.

Jaune - So...

Jaune - Weiss and Neptune

Yang - I give it a month

Jaune - Harsh

Yang - But fair

Yang - It Neptune, I like him but come on

Jaune - Yeah, he's overly flirty, vain and corny

Jaune - Who would want to date that?

Yang - I can fire you

Yang - You know that right?


	15. Chapter 15

The alarm woke her, its high pitched tone piercing harshly into her ears and forcing her from her slumber. Her head hurt. A throbbing probably due to not drinking enough water yesterday. Groaning slightly, she rolled over half considering just falling back to sleep. She hadn't taken a sick day once since starting this job. Even when feeling awful, she still tended to force herself in. No one would ever know if she just took the easy option. Just this once.

With a sigh, Winter Schnee got out of bed. Picking up her robe, she tied it tightly around her body before leaving the room. It was still dark but the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon. The slight light peaked through the blinds and illuminated the room.

The slight smell of salt filled the room through an open window, so familiar that she barely noticed it. She had hated it when she had first arrived, now it felt as common place as the street lamps.

She paused midway to the bathroom, staring at the former guest bedroom. Funny how quickly changes could become common place yet not lose what makes it special. Quietly as she could, Winter opened the door to her sister's room.

Weiss was still asleep, obviously it was barely past seven and she wasn't working today. She wouldn't wake up naturally for hours. Gently, Winter shook her sister awake, repressing a chuckle at the rather unladylike like groan her sister let out.

"Huh... Winter..." she muttered, rubbing her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Sorry Weiss," she replied softly. "But I need your scroll."

"My scroll?" Dust her sister was slow in the morning. "I thought you said I could keep it."

"You can but I need to know it's safe," she explained. "One of the IT techs at work owes me a favour. I just need to make sure that dad didn't put any monitoring software on it."

That was a lie. No one at work owed her anything but if it meant doing a few extra late shifts, Winter would do it in a heartbeat. Anything to keep Weiss safe from his influence.

"Do you really think he would do that?"

There wasn't a doubt in her mind, but Weiss didn't need to know that.

"I'm not sure, but better safe than sorry."

For a moment, Weiss paused before reaching over to her scroll and handing it to Winter. It was almost reluctant, she noticed. Not surprising considering what the device had nearly cost them. The moment of hesitation past as quickly as it had come and Weiss slumped back into the pillows.

"The password is 14022013," Weiss said, dramatically rolling over to smirk at her. "Now go to work so I can get some sleep."

Winter rolled her eyes but nodded. No need for her sister to rub it in. Getting up she left the room quietly and headed to the shower. Turning it on, she stripped before testing the waters temperature.

Stone cold. Just perfect. She needed to get to work early if she wanted to sort Weiss scroll. There wasn't time to wait for the water to heat up... Biting back a curse, Winter stepped under the icy torrent, bristling upon contact. Dust that was cold.

Not wanting to spend any more time than was necessary in the cold, Winter stared to clean herself quickly. In her haste, the shampoo bottle slipped from her grasp spilling out on the shower floor. For a few moments, Winter just stared at it, watching the liquid flow out. Then she sighed.

Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

Thankfully, she managed to get to work without further incidents. It really shouldn't have been much of an achievement considering how close she lived, but with how her morning was going, she would take what she could get.

Atlas had built their accommodation less than a mile from their offices. Even if she had a car it would be easier to walk. Winter let out a huff of bitter amusement. Like she could afford a car, or to maintain and fuel one. Not that she even knew how to drive so the entire point was academic.

It hurt her pride a little that she couldn't drive. If anyone asked her, Winter would simply say she didn't need to. Vale was a fairly small city and any place that she ever needed to go was in walking or bus distance. She could count the number of taxis she had taken on both hands.

Still not being able to drive made her feel less independent. Winter prided herself on being self-sustainable. At no point since leaving her father had she needed to borrow money or beg for favours. Not for her own gain anyway. Transport was the only barrier she had yet to transport but due to her work hours, it simply wasn't viable for her to learn.

Arriving at Atlas, Winter shook the thoughts from her mind. It wasn't necessary for her to learn and there were better things she could do with her time. Not that she ever did anything important with her time... Don't think like that.

Entering through the front door, she caught the eye of the secretary sitting at the front desk. A cheerful doe Faunus that seemed determined to be everyone friend. Unfortunately, everyone meant her.

"Hi Winter," she said with smile. "How's your morning been?"

Well Winter had gotten up with a head ache and couldn't even take an aspirin since it interfered with her normal medication. Then she had taken cold shower, (literally) and now she had to someone convince one of the technicians to debug her sisters scroll.

Unfortunately, that was not an acceptable answer so instead Winter resorted to replying with as little as possible while still being polite.

"Just the usual," she replied with a forced smile. "You know how it is."

"Yeah, I'm not much of morning person myself. Those people are the worst though. They are always so smug about it, aren't they?"

"Yes..."

How did she get out of this conversation?

"Still you wouldn't know it looking at you," the secretary sighed. "You always look great in the morning."

"I- thank you," Winter said, taken aback by the unexpected compliment. "I should go."

"Oh of course. Look at me keeping you busy, I'll sign you into the system."

"Thank you Spring."

Not waiting for a response, Winter headed towards the elevator, habit almost forcing her to hit two for her floor, instead of three for the computing department. The soft hum of elevator music filled her ears for a minute and then a soft bell, signalling her arrival.

Bracing herself slightly, Winter stepped out into the offices. As expected all eyes turned to her. With her distinctive hair, it was hard to go anywhere without being noticed. At first all she had to deal with was the occasional colleague asking her out.

That had all stopped when it had spread her last name was not a coincidence. Few people wanted to date a millionaire and no one had gotten close enough for her to explain that she really wasn't.

Of course there was still those who liked the idea of taming the ice queen. That was why she stopped going to work parties. All in all, it wasn't that shocking, Winter had very few- any friends. It wasn't really her fault, or at least that's what she told herself. Ozpin told her it was understandable she found it difficult with her childhood. It always sounded liked an excuse though.

Ignoring the stares and occasional whisper, that was a little too loud, Winter headed towards the back corner office. There sat the one man in the office who hadn't looked up when she entered. Old enough for his previously red hair to be turning white, sat Mister Polendina.

"Miss Schnee," he said looking up from his computer. "To what do I owe the pleasure? I didn't think that we had any deadlines coming up for James."

Instinctively, her lips moved to correct him. It was just force of habit for the man she respected so much. Now though wasn't the best time and Polendina had known the general far longer than she had.

The slight twitch of amusement in his face, told her she hadn't covered quite as well as she had hoped. Clearing her throat, she began to speak.

"You are correct in that assumption," she said dropping into her work voice. "This isn't about that. This is a personal matter."

"Oh, that's unfortunate," he said turning away. "I'm afraid, we do not have time for favours. The Vytal Festival is taking up a lot of our time."

Winter felt her heart sank. Someone else would probably scrub the scroll for her but Mister Polendina was the only one she trusted not to abuse the information. He was older, happily married with a child and General Ironwood respected him a great deal. He didn't have anything to gain by screwing with her.

"Are you certain you can't fit it in?" she said. "I would owe you a great deal and its only taking a look at a scroll."

"I most certainly do not have time for some as trivial as scroll repair," he said. "I suggest taking it to-"

"It's not broken. I just need to make sure it's safe."

The man paused, turning back from his computer suddenly curious.

"Safe?" He repeated. "Why wouldn't it be safe?"

Winter swallowed. She had hoped to fix this matter discreetly but just getting it fixed was more important.

"It's not my Scroll, it's my sisters." It wasn't enough and he gestured for her to continue. "She recently broke her old one and was sent this new one... from our father."

"I see... How old is your sister, may I ask?"

For a moment she wondered why that was relevant then she noticed the picture sitting above his desk. A picture of him and a young girl with ginger curls and a bow smiling brightly. The two of them looked so happy. Just like a normal father and daughter. Unconditional love... something Winter had never known.

"Weiss is eighteen."

"My daughter is only seventeen. At that age, they think they know so much... Leave the scroll, I'll try and look at it if I have the time."

"Thank you. I'll make it up to you somehow."

"A favour from a Schnee," he said, with slight amusement. "What a thing to have?"

* * *

It had taken longer than she had hoped to convince the IT department and by the time Winter had arrived at her floor, everyone else was already seated and working. And since her desk was right at the front of the room, next to Ironwoods office, that meant she had to endure another long walk while being stared at by her co-workers.

At least it was better than the IT department. Her co-workers here actually knew her and the novelty of working with a Schnee had long since work off. Today they were simply shocked that she was late. It was a rare day that Winter wasn't the first one at her desk. For her to be last was simply unheard of.

Still, she tried to not let it bother her and walked through the office as though nothing was wrong at all. She greeted them as normal, politely yet formally before finally reaching her chair and sitting down.

Instantly, she realised something was wrong. Her seat was too high making it so only half of her foot was actually touching the ground. Strange. The cleaners must have changed it after she left last night. Probably just an accident.

Dismissing the incident, Winter adjusted her seat to its correct height and turned on her computer only to find her mouse wasn't responding. That's when she noticed it was completely unplugged. Her frown deepened as she clenched her teeth in frustration. Clearly this was no accident and she knew exactly who was to blame for this juvenile trick.

Normally, she would just leave it and continue with her work. Rising to his baits and taunts never went well for her. As much as Winter was loath to admit it, the man was much better at quick witted rebuttals than she was. No engaging would only make things worse.

Taking a deep breath, Winter pushed the thoughts from her mind and logged in, determined not to let this day get the better of her. Then she found her desktop background had been changed to a picture of Disney princess with ice powers.

Standing up so forcefully her seat slammed into the wall, Winter stomped towards the culprit's desk.

"Branwen!"

The bane of her life sat his workstation, feet resting lazily on the desk. He looked like he had been napping. Hungover again no doubt. At the sound of her approach he looked up shooting her a wry smile.

"Hey Ice Queen," Qrow said. "How are you?"

He had the nerve to look innocent. Well as innocent as you could look with a face that shaves once every two weeks. Oh look, his shirt was actually ironed today. What a refreshing change of pace?

"You were at my computer."

"I needed to access some files for the Vytal festival planning meeting," he said casually. "You were late making it difficult to ask permission."

"And you couldn't wait five minutes?"

Qrow just shrugged.

"I didn't know why you were late. It could have been all day for all I knew. It's a busy time."

"Yes clearly you're swamped," she snapped. "That's why you had time to change my background, unplug my mouse and then take a nap."

To her chagrin, instead of getting reacting, he just laughed.

"I forgot I did that."

"It was five minutes ago."

"Exactly," he said with an amused smirk. "Let it go Ice Queen."

Her eyes furrowed in confusion. Why was he so amused by that? She opened her mouth to respond but instead took a breath. This wasn't worth it. With a noise of frustration, she turned around.

"Ahh the sight of you walking away," Qrow said, so only she could hear. "Makes everything worthwhile."

Winter froze. He was staring at her... Spinning around, Winter opened her mouth to hurl abuse only to hear a loud voice ring out over the office.

"Schnee!"

For a moment, Winter felt her heart stop. She hadn't heard the general arrive. Then she saw the smug smirk on Qrow's face. The smirk of a man who had obviously noticed their boss arriving just before he called her out on her ass.

Realising she still hasn't moved, Winter turned around quickly to face Ironwood.

"Sir, I-"

"My office," he said. "The rest of you, back to work. This in an office not a county fair but we do a festival that we are meant to be working towards. Let's focus on that people."

"Just what I was trying to explain to your-"

"Qrow shut up."

"Yes sir," Qrow said, turning back to his desk. "See you later Elsa."

Biting back a retort to regain some semblance of dignity, Winter followed quietly behind General Ironwood. It made her feel like a scolded child. It wasn't fair, she hadn't even done anything. Qrow was the one who had been the one acting like an infant.

Closing the door behind him, Ironwood took a seat at his desk. He gestured for her to sit, which she did reluctantly. It never felt right for her to sit in his presence like this. She knew it was juvenile but frankly Winter did owe him everything. He had taken a huge risk, hiring her out from underneath her dad. The only reason they had maintained relations with the SDC was because she wasn't Weiss. Her dad could afford to lose his second choice.

"I stopped by the tech office before coming up," Ironwood said, making her heart miss a beat. "Joseph said you dropped something off."

"I was."

"What was it? Joseph wouldn't tell me."

"It won't interfere with my work."

"You almost started a fight with a co-worker, it's already interfering with your work."

"Qrow started the fight."

"Qrow is an ass," he said bluntly. "But I don't expect things from Qrow. I expect things from you." He paused for a moment. "If things with your sister are-"

"They're fine."

"I've known you for five years Winter," the man said dryly. "The only things that make you emotional are your father, who you don't talk to, Qrow Branwen, I hope to god it's not him, and your sister."

Winter didn't say anything. If only he knew. After she didn't reply, Ironwood let out a sigh.

"Like I do every year, I will remind you that Atlas offers holiday leave-" He waved his hand before she could object. "And like every year, I'm sure you'll turn it down but it's there if you want."

"I appreciate the offer but I assure you, this will not affect my work." He just stared at her, forcing her to continue. "Weiss and I had an argument but we resolved it. Everything will be fine."

Ironwood took a few minutes to process what she had said. Then he nodded.

"See that it doesn't. In the meantime, I expect the full itinerary of the Festival to be on my desk by the end of the day."

"Of course."

With a quick nod, Winter left the office and returned to her desk. Her frustrations flared when she noticed her wall paper was still set to the ice princess. Taking a moment to count to ten, she changed it back to the Atlas logo and got to work.

* * *

The rest of the day past without incident, thank dust for that. Ironwood must have found work for Qrow to do at the festival site because he was out of the office for the rest of the day. That made work a lot easier. No on commented on her argument with Qrow and lunch went as it usually did. With Winter following the script of polite but distant conversation.

At five o'clock, the rest of her co-workers started to leave. Half an hour later, Ironwood bid her good night and left to go home to his wife. A school teacher. Head teacher, she was pretty sure.

Then just when she was starting to lose hope, Mr Polendina walked into her empty office. He smiled at her when he approached though it took a moment for her to realise behind his beard.

"James said you would be here," he said. "Do you often stay late?"

"There's a lot to do for the Festival."

"And I'm sure Atlas appreciates you taking on the brunt of the work."

"I enjoy work," she lied. "Did you find anything on the scroll?"

Her nerves must have been showing, as the man chucked slightly. Was she really that transparent. She was meant to be the Ice Queen. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled the device and placed it on the table.

"You were right to be cautious," he said, taking off his glasses. "The software installed while not sophisticated was saving and transmitting all messages and your sisters searches. Don't worry though, I removed it all. It's completely safe now."

"You're sure?"

The man just looked at her.

"Please, Miss Schnee. I am very good at my job."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to insu-"

"I know. It is hard to think clearly when family is involved." The man smiled. "Don't stay too late Miss Schnee. You clearly care deeply about your family. Spend some time with her."

"Thank you Mr Polendina. I won't forget this."

"I should hope not. What use is a favour from a millionaire if you can't cash it in? Good night Miss Schnee."

"Good night."

Winter watched him walk away in silence. Picking up Weiss's scroll, she twirled it around her hands mulling over what he had said. It was true, she did want to spend more time with Weiss. Honestly, Winter wanted to spend some time with anyone, Weiss was just the only person she had.

And she would do anything to protect her. Even what she was about to do. Picking up the scroll, Winter typed the numbers she hadn't dialled in years and hit confirm. A few moments later a voice spoke in her ear.

"Hello Miss Schnee. Please hold while we connect you to your father."

Winter didn't say anything, not wanting to give away the fact she wasn't her sister. Her father's secretary had Weiss's number but Winter sounded nothing like her. In silence, she sat at her desk and waited.

And then...

"Good Evening Weiss," her father said. "It's good to hear from you. To what do I ow-"

"Hello Dad."

In the moment of pause that followed, Winter smiled. He had sounded just like she remembered. Arrogant, self-righteous and poisonous. To give him pause, just by her voice. For a brief moment, she felt glorious... A very brief moment.

"Winter," he said, the facade of caring dropped now he knew which daughter he was talking to. "What an unexpected surprise."

"I had Weiss scroll checked. Your bugs are gone."

"You make it sound so sinister," he said. "It's perfectly natural for a father to want to know what his daughter is doing."

"You aren't most fathers."

"And Weiss is no ordinary girl. At least I don't think so."

Winter felt her anger start to rise. Stay calm, she told herself. Remember what Doctor Ozpin told you. He wants you to react. If you react then he controls, you again.

"Don't you dare make this about me."

"This is about you Winter. Isn't that why you called me? To gloat."

"I called you to tell you to leave us alone."

"Us?" Her father chuckled darkly. "Let me make one thing clear, my dear daughter. I am only looking out for Weiss, because frankly, you are neither worth the time or the effort."

Winter didn't say anything. A few moments later, her father spoke again.

"Now then Winter, if there is nothing else, I have work to do." He paused. "Give Weiss my best."

And then there was only the dial tone. The scroll dropped from her hands and hit the desk with a dull thud. Her hands were shaking; no her whole body was shaking. After all this time, he could still make her feel useless.

Picking up her own scroll this time, Winter scrolled through the menu until she found the only name that didn't begin with the letter W. Three rings in, her nerves almost got the better of her and she was about to hang up when a male voice picked up.

"Hello?"

"Doctor Ozpin, it's Winter Schnee. I'm sorry for bothering you so late but-"

Her therapist cut her off.

"No no Winter, it's quite alright. I gave you this number for a reason. Is there something wrong?"

Winter let out a choked laugh.

"Nothing specific." She swallowed. "I just... I just needed to talk."

* * *

"Weiss I'm home. I brought..."

Winter trailer off as her gaze found the kitchen. Or rather the bombsite that had been her kitchen. Winter never really cooked, leaving her kitchen in a near pristine state. Weiss had even less culinary skills than her but on the few occasions that her little sister did try to cook something, it usually ended messily. And Winter knew this because Weiss would always forget that she didn't have anyone to clean up after her.

This level of destruction was anything that Winter had ever seen. Flour was scattered across the counters, sugar on the floor and the sink filled with dishes. Still in partial shock, she stepped forward, her heel cracking on an egg shell. The door to Weiss's room opened and she entered yawning, completely oblivious to Winters consternation.

"Hey," she said. "How was work?"

"Normal."

"Did you bring back dinner?"

Deciding that she was simply too tired to deal with that kitchen tonight, Winter turned away and headed towards the table. She would leave a note to remind Weiss to do it tomorrow. It would be dried in and much harder to do, but that way she might just learn.

"Chinese," she said. "Are you still hungry?"

"Starving, I haven't had anything but cookies all day."

"Cookies?"

Weiss looked away, obviously realising how childish that had sounded.

"Ruby and Nora visited," she muttered, quickly shifting the blame. "They demanded we make cookies."

Well at least that explained the kitchen.

"And they couldn't make them at their own homes because?"

"I have no idea."

Winter smiled slightly at her sisters irritated amusement, before pulling the scroll out of her bag.

"You can have this back now. It's safe."

Weiss paused slightly before taking it. She stared at it for a few seconds before speaking in a quiet voice.

"Was there anything on it? Was father monitoring me?"

Anything to protect her.

"No," Winter lied. "He must not have had time before sending it to you.

Weiss seemed to visibly relax. Opening up the scroll she quickly got to work replying to any and all texts she had received during the day. Winter just ate in silence, every now and again stealing a glance at her younger sister. She was never going to let their father get close to her again.

Then she remembered the message Weiss's scroll had received while waiting for the food.

"Weiss," she asked coyly. "Who's Neptune?"

Her sister's face, turned scarlet.

* * *

Pyrrha - "Hello."

Sun - "Hi Pyrrha..."

Sun - "Why are you texting me?"

Pyrrha - "Can't I text a friend?"

Sun - "You can't but according to my scroll the last time was..."

Sun - "about seven months ago"

Pyrrha - "Well yes"

Sun - "And it was about Jaunes surprise party."

Sun - "Rubys birthdays coming up"

Sun - "Are you planning that?"

Pyrrha - "No"

Pyrrha - "Well yes but that's not what it's about"

Sun - "Neptunes not going to do anything"

Pyrrha - "I didn't say anything about Neptune"

Sun - "You were going to"

Sun - "He's the only thing that has changed recently"

Pyrrha - "Neptunes nice. He can just be a little..."

Sun - "Ill have you know that Neptune is actually a very sensitive soul"

Sun - "I'm more worried about him getting hurt rather than the Ice Queen"

Pyrrha - "Weiss is hardly emotionless"

Pyrrha - "She can be hurt just like everyone else"

Sun - "Shouldn't you be happy about this?"

Sun - "It means Jaune will probably stop flirting with her"

Sun - "Pyrrha?"

Sun - "Pyrrha?"

Sun - "See you in seven months I guess"


	16. Chapter 16

Be careful what you wish for. Weiss had never really understood the phrase as a child. Maybe it was because she had gotten everything she ever wanted up until the age of eight. Bad things didn't happen to her, not really. She hadn't even really cared when Winter had left. Not a first anyway. More angry that her sister had abandoned her.

Amber was the closest. There was nothing quite like seeing a former friend humiliated in front of an audience, screaming as the bugs she feared so much were trapped to her skin by thick black ooze. Weiss still wondered sometimes, if Cinder and Mercury had told her what they were planning, would she even have objected? On particularly bad nights another question would keep her awake. If asked, would she have helped?

The white elephant she was experiencing this morning was not quite as bad. It was doubtful that this would cause her many sleepless nights, but still it was extremely irritating none the less. And that was the Beacon group chat.

When she had first discovered they had a group chat, Weiss hadn't said anything. That would make her look petty and jealous. The fact she was jealous was irrelevant, though she would never admit it to them. They didn't need to know how petty she really was.

Why hadn't they added her to the work and leisure planning chat? Why did she have to learn about everything they were doing after everyone else? She was Weiss Schnee.

The answer, as it had turned out, had been Blake. The Faunus hadn't said she wanted the Schnee heiress out but before they actually became friends, no one had really wanted to test them. Then Weiss had broken her scroll so even though Blake was fine with her, it had taken till after the fight with Winter before someone thought to add her.

Ren of all people, had been the one to notice, dutifully adding her to the chat without a word. It was like he was trying to make it seem like she had always been there and that it wasn't a big deal. Weiss had appreciated that effort, even if Nora ruined it immediately by spamming the chat with fireworks and snowflakes. It was probably her insane way of making Weiss feel welcome. Utter madness... but also slightly appreciated.

The point was the Beacon group chat rarely stopped messaging and Weiss often found herself having to mute her scroll just to get some much needed sleep. Whether it was Yang posting some awful jokes she had found online and tried to claim were her own even when Blake had started sending screenshots of the pages Yang had clearly lifted them from.

Or it could be like last week when Nora had accidentally revealed she had a secret boyfriend by writing a message that was clearly meant to be private. It wasn't vulgar or anything just private. Actually for Nora it had been surprisingly sweet if a little eccentric. Only Nora could refer to someone as a Storm Flower and mean it affectionately.

At least she was moving on from her crush on Ren. That was one less secret crush Weiss had to worry about. Between, Pyrrha and Jaune as well as Yang and Blake, it was amazing that all their conversations weren't an awkward mess. Seriously how could anyone be so oblivious to someone liking them?

What was most annoying about today's constant spamming was it consisted of Yang and Ruby arguing. Yang and Ruby, the sisters who lived in the same house were arguing over scroll messaging. They could be shouting through the walls and causing less disruption.

This meant that when her scroll woke her up in a daze and she saw a message saying that it was an emergency meeting at Yang's house, Weiss was too tired to properly read it. If she hadn't been so tired, she probably would have actually thought about what Yang considered an emergency versus an actual emergency. Then she would have ignored it and gone back to bed.

Instead, Weiss dutifully got out of bed and walked to the Xiao Long residence in a fatigued stupor.

* * *

"You are unbelievable."

With a vein that was growing with her annoyance, Weiss gave the blonde her trademark glares. A glare that was given to the few who had managed to piss off the heiress before 8am. Yang of course, managed to misinterpret it completely.

"Thanks."

"Pretty sure it wasn't a compliment Yang."

"What else could she mean little sis?" the older blonde said. She actually had the gall to be confused. "I mean, just look at it."

The three girls stared at 'it' with varying reactions. Weiss continued to glare. Ruby let out a sigh and Yang gleefully bounced on her heels. It, so far as she could tell, seemed to be a large pile of rust that Yang must have pulled out of a landfill. Specifically, a landfill in Atlantis.

"I cannot believe that you brought me here on my day off so that you could show off this- this... Ugh."

The heiress sputtered out with a frustrated stomp of her foot causing Yang's face to fall slightly.

"You don't know what it is, do you?"

"The reason humanity developed a vaccination for tetanus?"

"Ruby?" Yang said pleadingly, sliding open a compartment on the top as though that would give it away. She slammed it shut after the foul smell of mould entered the air. "You know right?"

There was a pause.

"Umm... A locker?"

"A locker? It has an engine and wheels!"

Another pause.

"A rocket locker?"

Yang gave a dramatic flop onto the floor at her companion's failure to grasp her brilliance. Weiss sighed as she looked over at Ruby, ignoring Yang's moans.

"Please tell me you have coffee."

* * *

Half an hour later, while Weiss drank her second mug of coffee and Ruby was doodling on a notepad, Pyrrha arrived. Apparently she knew by now not to respond immediately to the Yang signal, but the red head was still far too polite to reject it completely. Arriving thirty minutes late was her act of compromise.

"Hello everyone," she said, greeting with a smile that far too bright for the morning. "How are you-"

The rest of her words were cut off by as Yang jumped up from the floor and grabbed her hand. Weiss looked on in vaguely concealed amusement as the red head tried, and failed, to pry herself free from the older girl's death grip.

"You know what it is right Pyr?" she said pleadingly. "You're smarter than Weiss so you have to know."

"Hey."

Shooting Weiss, a quick apologetic grin, Pyrrha turned her attention to the mysterious junk pile. It took her a few seconds but the red head was able to come up with an answer.

"It is a vendor cart, if I'm not mistaken," she said. "At least the remains of one."

Yang's eyes looked like they would explode with happiness.

"This is why you're my favourite," she said, hugging Pyrrha before pausing. "That and your legs." Another pause. "Well it's mostly the legs."

Weiss didn't know what worse. The fact that Yang was flirting with her straight friend or that said straight friend was blushing. The fact that Pyrrha got so embarrassed over flirting was baffling to the heiress. Pyrrha should just be used to it by now. She looked like a goddess after all. It wasn't like she was a stranger romantic attention.

Yang turned to Weiss to say something before noting the latter's eyes rolling.

"Don't be jealous Ice Queen," she said with a wink. "I like your legs too. Your backs nice too." Weiss raised her eyebrow. Legs she understood by Yang complimenting her back was a new one. "But my favourite is the part where the back meets the legs."

And there it was. Weiss took it back. Yang flirting with everyone was much more annoying than Pyrrha.

"Are you quite done ogling my ass?"

The blonde just shrugged, a wicked grin on her face. In retrospect, Weiss had been foolish to expect that calling the blonde out on her behaviour would do anything but spur her on. Definition of insanity after all.

"I could go on. Not like there's not much else to ogle."

Weiss felt her eye twitch.

"If you are suggesting what I think you are suggesting," she said slowly. "I'm going to bury you wherever you found this thing."

"Geez someone's sensitive. I just meant that with my sister here, my options are limited to ogling you and Pyrrha. No need to make mountains out of mole hills..."

Anger flaring, Weiss flicked the remains of her coffee at Yang but unfortunately, the blonde had anticipated this and neatly sidestepped with little effort. Untouched and completely dry, her smugness only grew.

"Wow, your cup skills could use work," she quipped, still grinning. "A for effort though."

Yang was saved from Weiss's icy wrath by a loud sigh from Ruby. Curious, the heiress turned to see why it was that Ruby seemed so exasperated. This was hardly a unique occurrence after all.

The younger girl flushed red upon noticing the rooms attention on her and quickly tried to move on.

"Yang you know dad was against this..."

"Yeah well dad was wrong," Yang said dismissively. "This is a good idea and we are going to prove it"

Ruby opened her mouth as though to protest but seemed to think better of it.

"At least you didn't waste any money on it."

Yang didn't say anything, as three sets of eyes stared at her. Sheepishly she grinned.

"Someone was selling this?" Pyrrha asked in disbelief until Yang glared at her, a look of betrayal on her face. "I mean it's lovely and all but it's not exactly..."

The red head trailed off but Weiss was more than happy to pick up the slack.

"Not exactly sanitary, aesthetically pleasing, safe and it probably violates everyone health code imaginable." She was getting a migraine just thinking about how foolish this was. "How could you buy this and think it was a good idea?"

"Because unlike your small little minds," Yang defended. "Mine has vision. I made sure it has a running engine and the freezer department works too. All its needs is a good clean and-"

"Yang," Ruby said with uncharacteristic seriousness. "How much did you spend on this?"

Yang simply waved her away, trying to draw focus back to her brilliance.

"That's not important Rubes. What's important is that-"

"How much?"

"...400 lien."

Now was probably not a good time for Weiss to point out she had used to own shoes that cost more than that. A hat as well. Still 400 lien felt like rather a lot and the looks on Pyrrha and Rubys face confirmed that.

"400 Lien!" Ruby practically shouted. "That's most of your savings. Dads not going to pay that back for you."

"He will," Yang insisted. "Once we prove that it will make money for Beacon, I'll claim it back."

"It does seem like you have been a little rash..." Pyrrha added. "That seems like a bit of an uphill battle."

"And that's why you're all here. We just need to clean it up and then give it a new coat of paint. Your arty Ruby, so you can design it for me." Yang sighed. "Look Beacon isn't exactly making huge money at the moment. We aren't losing it but we are just coasting. This will give us advertising at the very least and break even." Yang's face grew more confident. "I ran the numbers."

"You ran the numbers?"

"Yup. Made a spreadsheet and everything."

The two red heads did not look particularly convinced and Weiss couldn't help but agree. No offense to Yang but the blonde party lover didn't exactly go out of her way to break stereotypes. Weiss couldn't see her business sense or maths being that stellar.

Then again, Yang was in charge of ordering stock and organising shifts and Weiss had yet to see that go wrong. Weiss might be easy to organise around. Even now she her life was still just working or doing things with her friends, all of which she worked with. She had yet to say no to a shift as a result.

But both Blake and Pyrrha had to work around their college and the others would sometimes have other commitments. Yang scheduled them all and Weiss had yet to hear of hem being understaffed. Yang had felt confident enough in this that she had spent a significant portion of her saving. Maybe she deserved the benefit of the doubt... Now those sounded like famous last words.

"Can we see this spreadsheet?"

Yang's grin reappeared and for a moment, Weiss thought she saw something almost akin to relief in her eyes. It was probably nothing though as Yang quickly turned and ran up to her room to grab her laptop.

Well that's what Weiss assumed since if you were making a spreadsheet, obviously you would use a computer. So when Yang reappeared a few minutes later with a pad of paper, Weiss lost faith a little.

The three girls shared a look that Yang didn't seem to notice. Sighing, Weiss took the note pad and started to look through it. Despite the slightly basic method and very untidy writing, the information did look mostly right. Small arithmetic errors here and there, but nothing major.

"Pretty great huh."

"You haven't taken employees into account," Weiss said not looking up. "That will add some costs."

"What?" Suddenly Yang had grabbed back the pad, slight panic in her voice. "But that won't make too much difference, right. Two people for about three hours on the weekends is only about... Uhh."

Clearly mental maths was not her strong point.

"About 45 lien overall for both people," Weiss supplied.

Yang relaxed slightly, as she realised that her error wasn't that gross.

"Well it still comes out positive so it's still a good idea. Nailed it."

"I don't know Yang," Ruby said. "If dad didn't think so..."

"Your father has been running Beacon for many years," Pyrrha added. "It seems like he knows what he's doing."

Crestfallen lilac eyes turned hopefully to Weiss. The young heiress turned her eyes back to the spreadsheet, scanning the page for any more errors. Some of her numbers seemed slightly optimistic but overall...

"As much as it pains me say this," Weiss said. "I agree with Yang."

"Really?"

Three voices replied as one and Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes. Was her being supportive really so surprising? Oh who was she kidding? Yang, however, quickly recovered from her shock and clapped her hands together eagerly. Clearly she didn't want to give Weiss a chance to back out.

Realising that Yang was now going to this whether she helped or not, Pyrrhas base nature took over. That girl would probably give up her soul if it would help someone even slightly.

"What do you need us to do?" she said with a sigh.

"Well we still need some paint and stuff to make this look legit," Yang said, all disappointment and doubt gone. "So two of you will stay here to start cleaning and one of you will come with me to the store."

Weiss shuddered remembering the smell of that mould. No one in their right mind would want to clean that she the option of driving with Yang to the store-

"I'll stay," Pyrrha and Ruby said immediately.

The speed of their reply didn't bold well for Yang's driving but still it had to be better than cleaning that. Weiss hated cleaning plates, this vendor seemed like the worst kind of torture for her.

"Great," Yang chirped striding out of the garage. "C'mon Weiss. You get to meet Bumblebee."

With a hesitant pause, Weiss followed after the blonde. As long as Yang's car had four wheels, how bad could it be? Wait, why was she picking up helmets...

* * *

Weiss let out a screech of terror as the bike took the corner at a speed that had to be illegal. Flushing slightly at just how undignified that had sounded, Weiss managed to compose herself hoping that Yang hadn't heard her over the roar of the engine. Judging by the fact that the blonde's shoulders were shaking with laughter, it seemed like a fools hope.

"You alright there princess?" Yang asked and despite not being able to see her face, Weiss knew she was smirking. "Not too wild for you is it?"

Words failed her and Weiss could only let out a growl of frustration. Dust she wanted to hit the blonde brute but unfortunately, she didn't trust herself not to fall off the death trap. For the moment all she could was tighten her grip around the driver's waist and pray.

Mercifully though, Yang decided to slow down and although Weiss would never call it comfortable, it felt slightly safer. She only felt she was going to die every five minutes not every thirty seconds.

The bike slowed to a stop at a set of traffic lights and as Weiss considered getting off and walking, she heard Yang speak in a tone rather out of character from her usual fire.

"Uh listen Weiss," she said, so quietly Weiss could barely hear her. "Thanks for sticking up for me back there. I appreciate it."

Weiss blinked, not really sure how to reply to that. She hadn't really thought about it like it was a big deal. It had just made sense even if it was a little riskier that she had made it out to be. Apparently though, it had been important to Yang for some reason.

"Think nothing of it," she replied stiffly, not knowing what else to say. "It's like you said, the numbers added up."

"Pyrrha and Ruby didn't think so."

"They just didn't read the spreadsheet."

"That's the point," Yang muttered. "I know I'm not that smart but I don't think I'm dumb. It's nice to have someone else not think it too... for once."

Oh dust this was getting awkward. Why hadn't this light changed yet? Surely it couldn't be that much longer. Yang's lunatic driving might be preferable to the heart to heart. Wait, how long had she been quiet?

"The others don't think you're stupid Yang," she quickly stammered out. "They were just focused on the vendor cart."

"Yeah they do. Maybe not consciously but they... I mean I get it. I'm the oldest but still haven't done anything more than them. Pyrrha and Blake have practically lapped me," she laughed hollowly. "They're at college and I couldn't even get a job outside the family."

Weiss felt like her mind was in overdrive desperately trying to think of something to say. Emotional support had never been her strong suit. Ironic considering just how many people she had relied on in the past few months. Really, she should have picked something up by proxy.

"Neither has Ruby," she offered. "She hasn't gotten a job anywhere else."

Great, instead of making her feel better you just bash her sister and your friend. Truly excellent work. In any case, it didn't work as Yang just shrugged.

"She could though. Ruby could go to college or anything really if she wanted. She's way smarter than me."

Yang sighed, letting her shoulders sag slightly. Then she stiffened and as quickly as it had arrived, her mood changed again.

"Man what a downer," she said with a laugh. "This is why I hate traffic lights. They really kill the mood. Oh here we go."

The light flickered to green and Bumblebee roared into life again. Weiss grimaced again as she tightened her grip around the blonde's waist once again. The heiress remained silent though. Yang's laugh had been far too forced to really fool her and what Weiss had once mistaken for arrogance was starting to seem more like bluster.

* * *

Soon they arrived at their destination. A home and hardware store that Yang was sure would sell what they needed fix up her investment. A sign reading 'Never miss a Beat' stared down at her.

"Well here we are," Yang proclaimed happily, jumping off her bike and pulling off her helmet like a movie star. "You need any help dismounting?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. Oh please. She had been riding horses since she was seven, this bike was hardly a challenge. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. Unless this was a joke about her height. That did seem like Yang. Bare her soul, then bounce right back to mockery.

Letting out a huff of air, she slapped Yang's arms away. Swinging her legs up the side of the bike, she gracefully dismounted and stood smirking at the blonde in front of her. Already Weiss was thinking about the speech she was about to give informing Yang that she was not a delicate flower to be coddled.

Then she took a step forward and her legs gave out immediately. Fortunately, her indignant screech was muffled as she fell right into Yang's chest. Unfortunately, her indignant screech was muffled as she fell right into Yang's chest. Her embarrassment deepened as Yang let out a laugh, causing her chest to... well.

"Geez Weiss, buy me dinner first."

"Shut up," she hissed. Quickly she tried to pull away but her legs were still too numb and would have joined her dignity in the gutter had Yang not steadied her. " Let go of me, you oaf."

"You're right, that was super inappropriate of me to touch your arms like that," Yang said sarcastically. "What an invasion of personal space."

"Oh like you have a problem with it."

Yang had the gall to look offended.

"Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I want everyone copping a feel. I happen to have very high standa-"

"Yang?"

A loud voice shouted over the courtyard cutting Yang off mid-sentence. Weiss watched on amused as Yang's face contorted into a grimace as she recognised the voice.

"Ahh shit."

Before Weiss could say anything a rainbow literally rolled into Yang nearly knocking the blonde off her feet. An impressive feat considering how strong the blonde actually was.

"Oh my god Yang, it is you," the rainbow girl squealed on delight. "It's been like ages since I've seen you."

The girl, broke the hug, spinning backwards and Weiss noticed she was wearing roller blades. A flicker of movement caught Weiss's eye and she realised that the girl was a Faunus, a cat one, though with a tail instead of ears like Blake's. She could already tell she was not going to like this girl... because of the roller skates and obnoxious personality, not because she was a Faunus. Wait, who was she justifying herself to?

"Hey Neon," Yang said, awkwardly rubbing her neck. "How've you been?"

Neon stopped skating, coming to a halt right in front of Yang's face, causing her to jump back slightly.

"How have I been since you dumped me, you mean?" she said accusingly. "I still can't believe you did that to me."

"You kept calling me fat."

"And over text!"

"I distinctly remember you saying, how can you go to the gym so much and still be so top heavy?"

It soon became apparent that Weiss had been forgotten as the two former lovers bickered. It was quite the sight to say the least and the heiress soon realised they were attracting attention. It was strange in a way. Not to brag but if there was going to be a crowd Weiss tended to be at the centre of it.

The only person who drew more attention had been Cinder. That girl had demanded attention with little to no effort. Every sway of her hips or flick of her hair. No one eclipsed her.

But next to these two girls, Weiss might as well not be there. What was white next to fiery gold and this rainbow array? Not that she was complaining. More people finding out who she was and no doubt she would soon start to be swarmed by questions of why she working in an ice cream parlour and was not back with her father where she was meant to be. Remaining unnoticed was perfectly fine with her.

"And who is this then?"

Weiss had to stop herself letting out a gasp of shock as suddenly Yang's ex was in her face. Neon's tails swished back and fourth behind her shoulders as Neon stared at her accusingly.

"Ugh," Neon scoffed. "Of all the people you could have replaced me with, you pick this drab thing."

"Excuse me?"

"No offence," the girl said as Weiss took deep offense. "But seriously are you allergic to colour or something? Lighten up a little girlfriend."

"Listen here you little-" Suddenly Neon's words caught up with her and Weiss finally registered who Neon thought she was. "Wait. No I'm not her- we just work together."

"Aww thanks Weiss," Yang said throwing her arm her. "I think we just work together to."

Weiss scowled at the blonde shooting her a look that told her there was going to be deep repercussions for this. Pretending to be someone's girlfriend, least of all Yang's was not something she was willing to do today.

Fortunately for her (but unfortunately for Yang) Neon wasn't fooled. Letting out an annoying laugh, she pulled back from Weiss and circling around them again. Weiss felt a familiar vein throbbing in her head and she was half considering sticking her foot out to trip the skater. Maybe she could find out if cats really do land on their feet.

"Yang, you're so funny," Neon smirked. "It's okay, I'm sure you'll find someone soon. She won't be as good as me, but you only have yourself to blame for that."

"Thanks Neon."

"Maybe when you find her, we can go on a double date."

"You're seeing someone?"

Oh Yang that sounded pathetic.

"Aww don't be jealous Yang."

"I'm not-"

"You really don't look good jealous. It makes your face so puffy and you really don't need to look any bigger..."

Yang let out a growl and Weiss decided it was probably best if they moved on. As much fun as it was to watch Yang go through her dirty laundry, getting called into the police station for assault didn't sound so great.

"Well it was lovely to meet you Neon," she smiled diplomatically. "Just lovely... but unfortunately, we need to get going."

"We do?" Yang replied before noticing Weiss's glare. "I mean we do. Lots to get done, work stuff. Very busy... You know how it is."

Neon either didn't pick up on their terrible attempts to cover or maybe she just didn't care. Either way she made no effort to stop them leaving. Weiss couldn't blame her. From their brief exchange it was very clear who had won the break up. Neon had nothing to prove.

"Okay yous two," Neon said with a dramatic sigh. "Leaving me again I see. Oh well. I'll see you around."

"It was nice to-" Yang began but Neon was already gone skating away down the street leaving the two girls in her dust.

"See you..." Yang sighed before turning back to Weiss." I assume you have comments? Feel free not to voice them."

Weiss was very pleased that she had that option. Very pleased indeed and even more pleased to ignore it completely.

"Why on earth did you date that?"

"I know."

"She's not even that good looking."

"Do we have to talk about this?"

"And she was so obnoxious."

"Seriously, if we stop talking about this we can swing by the dock on the way home. Look at the ships..."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well now I know how much you love motor-boating."

Weiss scowled at the comments letting out a huff and folding her arms at Yang's innuendo.

"Very mature. No need to get defensive just because I met your worst ex." There was an awkward pause. "She's not your worst?"

"Trust me," Yang muttered as they headed towards the store. "Loud and obnoxious is better than silent." The blonde shuddered. "Now that was a violent break up."

That sounded like an interesting story. If nothing else, Yang's exploits into the dating world were entertaining... Well entertaining for her at least. Yang would probably disagree.

"Did you do that one over text to," Weiss asked with a smirk as Yang finished locking up her bike. "Or did you send someone else since you clearly have problems with doing it yourself.

"Hardy har," Yang said. "After this you are going to have to tell me about one of your embarrassing dating stories. Or maybe I'll get to see one with Neptune."

Weiss rolled her eyes as the two of them walked towards the hardware store. Talk about her love life? Yeah, like that was ever going to happen.


	17. Chapter 17

An hour later, with a bike full of supplies and three near death experiences, (Yang swears that it was the other guys fault) Weiss finally arrived back at the Xiao Long residence. Never had she been so happy to be on solid ground. Seriously, that blonde had nearly killed her. Apparently buying the paint had gotten Yang in the artsy mood and had pushed her bike even faster to get home.

However, she had learned from her previous mistakes and didn't try to dismount immediately, instead rubbing feeling back into her legs. Yang seemed to be completely immune to the numbness and practically flew off the bike, eager to get to work on her new baby.

"We're back," Yang sang out into the empty garage. "And we bought lunch."

The garage back door flew open and Ruby ran out in a blur, looking practically ravenous. Weiss rolled her eyes, and gingerly got off the bike. Reaching into the side bag attached to the bike, she pulled out a bag of sandwiches and handed them to the younger girl.

"I bought lunch," Weiss corrected. "You got all the way to the till before telling me you were out of cash."

"Eh, six of one."

Pyrrha walked in next, a distinct layer of damp and grime present on her clothes and skin. Glancing back to Ruby confirmed Weiss's suspicions. Ruby was immaculate. Clearly one of them had taken to cleaning the vendor cart with more enthusiasm than the other.

"That's good. We can eat while we wait for it to dry," Pyrrha said. "How much do I owe you Weiss?"

"It's fine Pyrrha," she said dismissively. "I was more complaining about Yang."

The red head didn't seem convinced, as though the idea of putting anyone out of pocket was abhorrent to her.

"Are you sure?"

"Really it's fine."

"But if you want to help a sister out," Yang said slyly. "I did spend 400 lien on the vendor."

Apparently not even Pyrrha was that much of a bleeding heart.

"That's not quite the same thing..."

Yang let out an exaggerated pout before heading out to see her vendor. Ruby and Pyrrha followed, each holding a different can of paint and their lunch, leaving Weiss to carry the fabric to fix the roof. Back at the store, Yang had insisted that between the four of them, they would be able to work out how to attach it. At the time, Weiss Did not have the energy to argue and agreed rather quickly.

They exited the garage with Yang still trying to convince Pyrrha to pitch in on the Vendor costs with little success. Ruby had ran ahead to eat her lunch which meant Weiss was left to-

"SLOTH ATTACK!"

Weiss let out a scream as Nora jumped out from behind a bush waving her arms and yelling. Heart pounding like a jack hammer, Weiss glared at the new arrival who met the glare with equally intense laughter. To her immense displeasure, both Ruby and Pyrrha were repressing smiles and Yang had barely reacted.

"Hey Nora," Yang said, without missing a beat. "When did you get here?"

"About twenty minutes ago," Pyrrha supplied when it became clear Nora was struggling to breathe. "Sorry Weiss, we didn't think she would scare you that much."

"I thought I was being assaulted," she protested. "This was a reasonable reaction."

"Oh Weiss," Nora said grinning. "That was great, you should have seen your face."

"The depths of your immaturity never cease to amaze me."

"It was just a harmless prank prissy boots."

"Oh I'm so sorry," Weiss said dramatically. "You truly are the height of maturity then."

"Wow, you're acting like you've never been pranked before," Nora said with a roll of her eyes. Then there was a pause. "Have you been pranked before?"

She shouldn't even dignify that with a response.

"You think that because I'm rich-"

"Was rich," Yang corrected. "Now you complain about buying sandwiches."

"Yes thank you for that," Weiss said, before turning back to Nora. "You think just because I was rich that I don't know about pranks?"

"Answering the question with a question," Pyrrha said, with a small smile. "That's not suspicious." Weiss glared at her but Pyrrha just shook her head. "I'm sorry Weiss, I'm sure you were quite the jokester."

The other three girls laughed while Weiss just let out a huff and folded her arms. The fact this proved she lacked a sense of humour was not lost on her.

"Oh don't try and pretend that you were Nikos."

Pyrrha smiled a little but it was Nora who spoke again. But of course this was Nora and she didn't do things halfway. Placing her hands behind her back, she stood up straight and spoke with authority, obviously trying to imitate some teacher she had once had in high school.

"Ahh but you see young Ice Queen, Pyrrha has one thing you lack."

"And what's that?"

Nora smiled.

"A younger brother."

* * *

 _Pyrrha closed the door as quietly as she could. If she was lucky then her mom wouldn't have heard her come in. That way she might be able to get a little peace before her mom started trying to push her to study. She meant well and with her final exams coming up, it was important that she studied._

 _The problem was that she did study, a lot. A couple of hours break, one night a week wasn't going to affect her._

 _After no one called her, Pyrrha decided she was safe and quietly made her way up the stairs. Reaching the top, she almost walked into her dad. Both of them froze, shocked to see the other. Then her dad just shook his head._

 _"Your moms out for a few hours. You don't have to sneak around."_

 _"I'm not hiding," Pyrrha said, too quickly. "I just..."_

 _Her dad held up his hand to stop her excuses._

 _"Its fine for you to take a break honey," he said. "Your mom knows that. You just have to tell her and she'll give you space."_

 _"I'll study later. You don't have to worry about-"_

 _"We're not. You'll be fine."_

 _Her nerves lessening slightly, Pyrrha smiled slightly._

 _"Thanks dad."_

 _Feeling slightly better, Pyrrha headed towards her room. Annoyingly, someone had turned her ceiling fan off so her room had adjusted up to Mistrals heat. Probably her younger brothers idea of a joke. Sighing, she flicked the switch that would turn on her lights and then her fan._

 _Suddenly her world went white. Pyrrha let a out a shriek of shock as she was covered in the flour that had been placed on the blades. For a few seconds, Pyrrha just stood there, looking like an ash covered victim of a volcano eruption. Her room hadn't fared much better looking like a winter had come early. It was going to take her all night to clean this up._

 _The sounds of snickering coming from the hallway told her exactly who was responsible for this little joke. Anger burst from her and Pyrrha threw open the door, stomping into the corridor to find her brother._

 _"HECTOR!"_

* * *

Pyrrha finished her story, letting out a sigh of exasperation at the memories and Weiss couldn't help the slight smirk that played at the corner of her lips.

"I didn't know you had a brother," she said, slightly curious. "You've never mentioned him."

"Its not intentional," Pyrrha said quickly. "My brother can just be a little... difficult."

"Pyrrha you came to study in Vale just to get away from him."

"That's not why I chose Vale."

The protest was weak at best and Weiss didn't think anyone was buying it. Fortunately for Pyrrha, Nora decided to continue her lesson, letting the red head off the hook.

"So while Pyrrha herself may not be a prankster." She was still using the teacher voice. "She has grown up around one and so is very used to it. Care to regale is with any more of your brothers brilliant schemes."

"Are you on his side?" Pyrrha asked before shaking her head when she realised Nora probably was. "Satin wrap on my door, air horn attached to my chair and turning off my alarms."

Weiss winced slightly, having a new found appreciation for being a second born. It also made sense why Pyrrha didn't talk about her brother very much. He sounded like a horror. Amazing that her parents had managed to produce Pyrrha, who didn't have a mean spirited bone in her body but also her brother who sounded like a gremlin of some sort.

"It's okay, Pyr. I understand," Yang said, throwing her arms around Pyrrha's neck sympathetically. "I too can attest to the horror of younger siblings."

"I'm right here."

"I'm well aware." Ruby opened her mouth to protest but Yang beat her too it. "Do you want to talk about your baking?"

Rubys face went slightly red and she awkwardly scratched the back of her head. Weiss raised her eyebrows at her now wondering what Ruby had done. The girl simply let out a nervous laugh and suddenly became very interested in her food.

"Heh heh heh."

* * *

 _Yang walked in her home with a spring in her step. Today had been a great day. When Yang had been paired up with the new quiet emo girl for a history project, she had thought that it was going to suck. Blake may be easy on the eyes, but quiet people tended to bore Yang and she tended to annoy them. Her sense of humor didnt mesh well with the introverted._

 _However, despite her secrecy about... well pretty much everything, working with Blake had actually been rather fun. The raven haired girl met each one of Yangs good-natured jabs with one of her own and for every roll of her eyes at one Yangs puns, there was always a slight smirk. So when they had finished the project and gotten the highest grade of Yangs academic career, Yang had wanted to continue this budding friendship._

 _After a week of wearing down, Blake had agreed to hang out and Yang had just gotten back from Beacon with her. It had been fun and Blake had even talked about herself a little. Nothing major, but rewarding information regardless. Her favorite flavour of ice cream was cookies and cream, her favorite film was Beauty and the Beast and she loved to read._

 _Also she was disappointingly straight, though was currently single. Not that surprising considering she had only moved to Vale recently, though she still was vague on the why._

 _Still Yang considered the day a success and from the smell coming from the kitchen, it was about to get better. Ruby had been baking it seemed. Skipping into the room, Yang found the baked goods sitting on the table next to note._

 _Yang,_

 _Tried a new recipe, let me know how it is. Careful they're hot ;)_

 _Love_ _Ruby_

 _Yang raised her eyebrow wondering how Ruby had forgotten that temperature was affected with time. She shrugged. Guess it didnt really matter. Happily, she picked up a cookie and eagerly bit into it. Even with a new recipe, Yang had faith that her sisters baking skills would produce something delectable like always._

 _Then suddenly it was like her mouth was on fire and she almost choked. Eyes widening in shock, Yang ran to the sink and spat out the food hoping that would relieve the pain. It didn't and her tongue was still in agony. What had Ruby put in this? Chili? Wait... Eyes watering, Yang reread the note._

 _Careful, they're hot ;)_

 _Shaking her head, Yang crumbled up the note. Oh it was on._

* * *

This time, Weiss didn't try to suppress her mirth at this story. Openly laughing at the blondes expense and the image of Yang running around with her mouth on fire. Oh she would have paid greatly to see that.

Apparently embarrassed by the story, Ruby had started work on painting the vendor cart. Next to her, sat a notebook with various designs she must have drawn up while Yang and her were picking up the paint. Probably her excuse to not help Pyrrha clean the mould. It seemed that she had started with a red undercoat. No surprises there.

Of course though, Yang was not about to let her story go.

"Do not let my sisters adorable face fool you," she said dramatically. "Ruby Rose is a conniving little trickster when she wants to be."

"I am not."

"You once tried to set up trap that would throw a pie at me when I opened the door."

Even Nora seemed impressed by that, letting out a small start of approval as Ruby muttered a weak defence.

"Yeah but it didn't work..."

Ruby blushed as Weiss laughed again, burying her head inside her hood. Making an elaborate machine for no real reason, sounded very Ruby. But as cute as her flushing was, Ruby did seem like she needed a lifeline here and embarrassing Yang was more satisfying than Ruby. Especially after the bike incident.

"To be fair Yang," she said. "This is you we are talking about. Its doubtful you are entirely innocent."

Placing her hand on her chest, Yang let out an exaggerated noise of indignation.

"That it victim blaming at its worst," she said, before grinning. "But you might have a point."

Ruby turned back from her painting, eyebrow raised.

"Might have a point? What did you in retaliation again?"

Yang was unabashed and in retrospect, Weiss should have known the blonde would be proud of this rather than embarrassed. This was the girl who's name was branded onto Weiss's back. Judging from Yangs grin, she had probably been hoping that she would have an excuse to bring up her payback.

"I improved you."

* * *

 _"YANG!"_

 _Sitting on the couch, Yang smiled as she heard her sister yell her name. Then she heard a sigh from her dad._

 _"What did you do?"_

 _She smirked._

 _"You'll see."_

 _A few moments later, Ruby stomped down the stairs wearing her gown and still wet from her shower. Her arms were crossed and her fists clenched. If it wasn't for the situation being so funny, Yang might have been a little worried. Yang had never seen her sister look so mad, her face was practically scarlet. What was really funny was that her hair was not. In fact, it looked rather yellow._

 _"YOU PUT HAIR DYE IN MY SHAMPOO!"_

 _"It does appear that way," Yang said in a pondering tone just to irritate her more. "On the bright side... Does your hair count as the bright side?"_

 _"No."_

 _"Oh, well on the bright side, you look more like part of the family now."_

 _The now blonde Ruby Rose let out a screech of anger before stomping away, presumably to get changed and go buy more hair dye. Very pleased with herself, Yang settled back into the couch._

 _Across from her, Taiyang sighed again and began to mentally prepare himself for what was surely going to be a long couple of weeks of both Yang and Ruby trying to one up each other. Maybe he could get Qrow to look after them this weekend. You know, for safety._

* * *

Okay, Weiss had changed her mind. Weiss would pay way more to see blonde Ruby above fire mouth Yang. Flour covered Pyrrha didn't even make the list, however ashen she might have looked.

Wait who was she talking about? This was Yang. No way that Yang had gone through the effort of dyeing her sisters hair and then not taken a picture. Weiss didn't need to pay a penny.

Sure enough, Yang was already going for her scroll but ever quick to react, Ruby has jumped towards the blondes bag determined to get their first. Speed versus strength. A classic pairing that always ended the same way.

Ruby grabbed the bag and ignoring Yangs tell of protest, darted around the other side of the vender in a bid to outrun her sister. Sighing, Weiss shook her head. Speed always trumped strength.

"Give me my scroll Ruby."

"You said you deleted it," came the whine of a reply.

"I did, just give me my scroll and I'll show you."

"I don't believe you."

"Well I think it was rather obvious I was lying."

Beside her Pyrrha let out an amused chuckle while Nora yelled for Yang to escalate to physical violence and the breakage of bones. Not for the first time, Weiss wondered how it was her life had ended up this way. If her father could see the people she was associating with now... No not associated with, her friends.

The two sisters reached the eighth lap of the vendor and despite Rubys speed, Yang had the edge in stamina. Slowly she was starting to gain but before the blonde could grab her sisters hood, Ruby managed to dart away and ran back into the house. With an sigh of exhaustion, Yang gave up and joined them again.

Nora however decided that they had some time for her to continue her lesson. At least Weiss thought it was a lesson based on the accent she continued to persist with.

"And that's why I know that you never pulled any pranks as a child," she declared. "Or probably had any fun at all."

It took a moment for Weiss to remember what had started all these stories and her good mood vanished into a scowl.

"I was fun."

"I'm sad we missed that," Yang said with a smirk.

Weiss just scowled.

"I am fun," she corrected. "And besides your argument is that those three have siblings. I too have a sister remember."

"Perhaps but I can't imagine that your sister was putting your hand in water while you slept?"

Weiss let out a huff of derision, torn between the desire to defend herself and her sister and the fact Nora was completely right. The two sisters were hardly the twrror of classrooms. Weiss didn't even know how a wet hand was a prank.

"How about a little test then," Nora said when Weiss didn't respond. "How would you prank Ruby before she gets back?"

"Really?"

"Yup."

Letting out another scoff, Weiss turned away hoping that she looked more casual than she felt. She had to prove that she was fun, but more importantly Weiss had to make it look effortless. That was was the Schnee way. Casually perfect.

"I would put the bucket of paint over the door."

Obviously, she had never done this but Weiss had seen it done on Tv before. Maybe it wasn't that original but surely they couldn't criticise her for it. From the looks she was being given however, it looked like they were.

"That sounds like a waste of all the paint I just bought," Yang said. "And a huge mess I would have to clean up."

"And would more than likely just give Ruby a concussion," Pyrrha added.

Nora just shook her head.

"Amateur."

"Well what about you," Weiss snapped now annoyed. "You've talked about everyone else's vast experience but all you did was jump out at me. So please Nora, regale me with your vast wisdom."

She regretted the words the moment she saw the grin on Nora's face.

* * *

 _Oh Ren, falling asleep on the couch. That was just foolish. Did you really think you would be safe just because you are look good?_

 _With a grin, similar to that of the mentally deranged, Nora Valkyrie tip toed towards her victim, a bottle of whipped cream in one hand_ _and a feather in the other. Maybe a cliche but she'd always held an appreciation for the classics. With content giggle, she sprayed a more than generous portion of her weapon on Rens hand. Once it was completely obscured by the dessert topping, Nora reached over and ran the feather across his face._

 _It took him a moment to react and it turned out to be a disappointing one when Ren's clean hand was the one to move to his face. Undeterred, Nora once again tried to run the feather but, once again, it was the clean hand that moved to swat it away. Nora frowned. In her head this had worked first time and had been utterly hilarious._

 _Leaning closer, Nora tried for a third time, taking the feather and running it across her friends-_

 _Splat_

 _Nora jumped back into shock as her vision was obscured by Rens hand and a lot of whipped cream. Wiping her eyes, she stared down at a very awake Ren with a lazy smile on his face. The red head pouted._

 _"How long have you been awake?"_

 _"Since you giggled after seeing I was asleep," he said. "You really arent that quiet."_

 _Standing up, Ren walked towards his room, looking rather smug but still not wanting to push his luck when he continued his nap. Nora just smiled through a face full of cream waiting for the other shoe to drop. Said shoe dropped as Ren opened the door, only to be met with about 99 lightish red balloons pouring out into the cackled as Ren just stood there staring at his room that was filled with balloons._

 _Hands clasped together behind her back, Nora skipped over to him and smugly leaned against him. Mouth open he turned to her with a look that was a cross between confusion and awe._

 _"When did you... How did you even do this?"_

 _Giggling, Nora leaned a little closer._

 _"Boop."_

* * *

There was a short silence.

"That story seemed to have a little." Pyrrha paused. "Subtext..."

"You're just imagining it," Nora said dismissively.

The three girls exchanged a look.

"Are you sure," Weiss said. "It seemed like that story should go on a little more."

"Ugh quit trying to deflect."

Weiss frowned slightly. Was it just her imagination or was Nora looking a little pink. She shook the thoughts from her head. Ridiculous. It must just been the light. Back to the matter at hand.

"Why would I be trying to deflect," Weiss said. "You prank backfired completely."

"No the red herring worked to perfection."

"Interestingly enough," Yang said. "I put an actual red herring in Rubys bed once."

"I didn't notice until I was in bed either," Ruby muttered sullenly. "It was awful."

Weiss almost jumped out of her skin, having not noticed her friend approach. The girl smugly passed the scroll back to Yang, sticking out her tongue proudly.

"I deleted it."

A frown made its way across Yangs face and Weiss felt a surge of disappointment. Then the blonde shrugged.

"Ahh well I have other copy's."

Rubys grin slipped from her face.

"What? Yang really?"

"I'm your big sister Rubes, I'm never letting this go."

With a groan, Ruby pulled her hood back over her head and buried her face in Weiss shoulder. Slightly shocked by the depressed girl in her hair, it took Weiss a moment to react. And even then all it was to awkwardly pat her back.

"Uhh I'm sure it's not that bad," she tried. "You probably looked cute as a blonde." Wait was that insulting. "Not that you don't look cute now. Cuter in fact... I mean ugh."

Weiss felt herself flush red as several eyebrows raised. Rubys muffled mumble of thanks helped a little but not a lot. Especially when Yang was around to capitalise on her slip up.

"Mind not flirting with my sister when I'm right here."

And now Weiss was scarlet.

"I was not- I ugh." Pinching her nose at Yangs grin, she forced a scowl to hide her embarrassment. "Need I remind you that I'm straight?"

"So was I once," Yang said with a smirk. "And so is Pyrrha until you give her enough flaming sambuca. We call that the Greek Fire effect."

Unfortunately, no real elaboration was given as both the older girls descended into bickering about the technicalities of being hit on versus actually being gay. Yangs argument that Pyrrha had woken up with a hickey she couldn't remember getting seemed to shut Pyrrha up a bit.

* * *

An hour later and they were on the way to Beacon. The paint job still had a long way to go but until it dried, there wasn't much more they could do. And by they, Weiss pretty much just meant Ruby, the only one with anything resembling artistic skills among them.

Yang and Pyrrha had managed to remove the rotting fabric roof while the shorter girls had watched. Hopefully, they would be able to repair it later once Taiyang agreed it was worth it. The others still had doubts he would but no one wanted to say anything and upset Yang.

The paint was still wet, but Yang was in too energetic a move to wait around. Her dad was currently working in the office so she had decided that now was a good time to test the manoeuvrability of the vendor and walk it to their work. Dropping it off round the back, Yang had headed upstairs to get her dad while the others had grabbed a booth.

Due to a ritual of touching a finger to ones nose, Weiss had been nominated to get drinks. With some protest and a lot of grumbling, she had acquiesced. Some day soon Weiss was going to have to get some one to sit her down and explain all these protocols and why there were so many. Probably Pyrrha since she wouldn't mock her for it. What did "Dibs" even mean?

"Here you go Weiss," Jaune said, having been on the till. "That should be everyone's orders."

"Thanks," she said, before pausing. "Jaune, what do you know about pranks?"

There was a slight silence. The blonde boy seemed caught off guard by the question but to be fair to him, it was an odd one especially from her. He recovered quickly enough though and stammered out a reply.

"Uhh well. I have seven sisters so we kinda hit a Cold War of sorts. My mom got tired of dealing with the fallout as well. Really it's not worth it for any of us to start it up again."

"You have seven sisters?"

"Yeah, you didn't know that?"

Somehow that failed to come up in conversation, along with Pyrrha's brother. Maybe Ren had interesting family history Weiss should ask about. What else didn't she knew about her friends.

"Why are you asking anyway?" Jaune continued. "You don't really seem like the jokester sort." His laugh wilted into an awakward chuckle under her glare. "Heh heh, no offense."

Picking up the tray of refreshments, Weiss replied with curt single word that easily explained everything Jaune needed to know.

"Nora."

And then she headed back to the table where Pyrrha and Nora were talking. Her brow furrowed slightly at the absence of their third member. Where had Ruby gone, she had been there a second ago.

"She's making a Crescent Rose," Pyrrha explained, noticing her expression. "She'll be back soon."

"And by then we will have concluded the lesson," Nora said. "Weiss Schnee boring childhood: 101."

"Why are you persisting with this foolishness?"

"Lesson 1," Nora exclaimed, grabbing her milkshake and ignoring Weiss completely. "As Hector taught us, do not make your pranks too messy otherwise it isn't worth it."

"That was the lesson?"

"Yes," Pyrrha said ,through a forced smile. "My dear brother, had to clean up room after my dad found out what he did. It took him hours."

"How did you know that lesson before she told the story," Weiss asked. "And I thought the lesson was about my bori- I mean my sister."

Once again, Nora ignored her completely. At this point, Weiss was pretty sure she as just making this up as she went along.

"Lesson 2: know the limits of your victim!"

"Ruby did seem annoyed at having her hair dyed," Weiss admitted.

"And can you imagine what Yangs reaction would have been?"

All three girls shuddered. There probably wouldn't have been a Vale for Weiss to move to if Ruby had dyed Yangs hair.

"So what's lesson 3?"

"Lesson 3!" Nora shouted, earning looks until the parlour realsied who it was. "As my amazing tale explained-"

"You aren't stealthy enough for that prank?"

"Always have a back up plan!"

Weiss didn't even try to protest that one. It was an utterly ridiculous statment to make but it was technically correct. And it seemed likely that Nora would quibble that technicalty for a while if she tried to argue it. Best to just end this now they were out of lessons.

"Lesson 4!"

Pyrrha let out a small chuckle as Weiss growled in annoyance. Taking a moment to collect herself she reached for the sugar pourer for her coffee.

"How is there another lesson?" she said. "We are out of stor-"

As she spoke, the lid fell from the pourer and her coffee was filled with sugar. Weiss blinked watching the small grains of sugar pour out. Someone must have loosened the lid. Slowly, she looked up to find Pyrrha looking a little sheepish and Nora grinning triumphantly.

"Lesson 4 : Expect the unexpected."

Nora was saved from having Weiss's coffe thrown at her by the arrival of a slightly exasperated Taiyang and his very smug looking Yang. He opened his mouth to speak, pausing, at the pile of sugar, then he just shook his head. This was hardly the worst thing this group had done.

"Yang told me you are all onboard with her new business venture?" They all nodded. "Good, we'll be testing it on a trial basis on Saturdays to start with."

That seemed like an awful lot of conditions.

"It does mean that you will all essentially need to work an extra shift or two," Taiyang continued. "Yang and Blake will be taking the first Saturday once we have this vendor finished off."

And that sounded like Yang had slightly underplayed how much work this vendor needed done on it. Taiyang probably suspected this as he let out another sigh.

"Any questions?"

* * *

The sound of running water rang throughout the apartment when Weiss opened the door. Winter must be showering, Weiss thought idly. Maybe she had plans. She paused. That was unlikely.

Frowning slightly, she made her way over to the kitchen looking for some sort of relief from the heat. That had been slightly cruel of her but she hadn't meant it to be. It was just Winter only tended to go out for the work things that she was invited to. Those she tended to know about ahead of time and therefore tell Weiss about it ahead of time. Winter hadn't told her she was going out tonight so she probably wasn't.

Running the cold tap for a few seconds, Weiss felt her scroll vibrate in her jeans. Letting the tap cool for a little longer, she smiled involuntary as she saw the name displayed.

Neptune: _Hey Snow Angel_

She giggled, suddenly very happy no one was around to see her act like a school girl with a crush. The fact she did have a crush was neither here nor there. Besides he clearly liked her too if the amount they texted was any indication. The only person she messaged more was Ruby.

And no, Weiss was not at all annoyed that despite their messaging, Neptune still had not asked her out. Not annoyed or nervous at all.

Quickly typing out a response, Weiss slid her scroll back into her pocket and collected her water. Turning the tap off, her hand hovered slightly over the hot tap. an idea coming to her. Glancing over at the bathroom door, she made a decision.

Turning on the hot tap, she quickly and quietly ran over to the bathroom door and pressed her ear to it. A moment later she was rewarded with a slight squeak from her sister as the water suddenly dropped in temperature.

Stifling a snort of laughter, Weiss ran back to the tap and switched it off. A few moments passed and after the shower didn't turned off, Weiss figured she had gotten away with it.

Giggling slightly, Weiss took another drink of water to calm herself. That had been extremely immature and altogether rather childish. And not that Weiss would ever admit it to Nora, also kinda fun.

A one off occurrence though. Obviously Weiss was far above replicating anything like this again. It had been a momentary lapse in judgment. A spur of the moment act that clearly showed she needed to spend less time with Nora. Then again...

Her hand reached out for the tap.


	18. Chapter 18

Weiss thought that she finally might be getting to used to Vales climate. Despite the heat, Weiss actually felt functional. Sure, she was outside, sunbathing on a beach in a bikini and plenty of ice cold drinks from Sun and Yang's cooler but she was still functional.

She smirked. Judging from the looks she was getting, she was looking more than functional. Even Yang had done a double take. Now all she had to do was wait for Neptune and then she could-

Yang flopped down next to her knocking sand into Weiss's face. Glaring at the dopey grin, Weiss dusted herself down.

"What's got you so happy?"

"Nuthin."

Weiss wrinkled her nose as the smell of cheap beer on the blonde's breath, probably the source of her good mood. Weiss had noticed that when Sun and Blake were around Yang would either be in a slightly deflated mood or drunk. Considering Blake was now purring (literally at one point) in Suns arms, Weiss was not surprised that Yang was currently four beers deep.

"By the way Sun told me that Neptune got called into work. He isn't coming." She took another to drink. "Looks like you got dolled up for nothing."

"I did not get dolled up."

"Really? Because that's a new bikini isn't it?"

"You can't prove that," Weiss scoffed before realising that wasn't a denial. "I mean, no it's not."

"Hey, I approve," Yang winked. "If things don't work out with Neptune..."

Weiss rolled her eyes. Not that the flirting wasn't great for the self-esteem but... actually it wasn't really that much of a boost coming from Yang since she flirted with everyone. Well almost everyone.

"As much as I would just love to be one of your flings," she said down her sun glasses. "I'm not gay."

Yang pouted dramatically.

"Not even a little bicurious?"

Weiss swallowed, keeping her eyes on focused Yang, not letting them flicker to anyone else.

"No."

Sighing, Yang flopped back into the sand showering Weiss for a second time much to her chagrin. After running her hands through her white locks to shake loose the debris, Weiss rolled onto her back. Regret instantly flowed through her as she heard Yang laugh.

"Shut up."

"Wow, you actually have a problem with laughter," Sun said, while Blake snickered. "You know this is why we call you Ice Queen."

"She's not angry at the laughter," Pyrrha said, though her tone betrayed her amusement. "She's angry at why Yang is laughing."

Weiss silently fumed. Maybe if she just stayed quiet, they would jus- oh who was she kidding? This was going to be the rest of her day.

"Why is Yang laughing then?" Sun asked.

"Have you never seen her tattoo up close?" Blake asked. Sun shook his head. "Good that was test."

It took a minute before Weiss realised Blake was joking. With her consistent dry tone, it was hard to tell sometimes.

"Nailed it."

Sun punched the air before dislodging his girlfriend on the sand with an undignified hiss. Standing up, he walked over to where Weiss was laying. A moment later, Weiss heard him laugh and she had to clench the towel to repress her anger.

"Leave her alone Yang," Ruby said sullenly. "You already tattooed your name on her back, you don't have to mock her for it."

Weiss frowned slightly at Ruby's tone. She had been acting sulky for a while now and texting her less. It was strange and starting to get on Weiss's nerves. If something was bothering her then she should just say it.

This coming from the Ice Queen, master of avoiding her problems.

"Come on Rubes admit it's kinda funny," Yang said. "Plus it's her own fault."

With a huff of annoyance, Weiss flipped over and sat up.

"How was it my fault?" she snapped. "You're the one who issued the challenge."

"You're the one who made it a bet." Yang shrugged. "You didn't have to accept."

"Oh because you would have let it go if I had."

"You do have a way of antagonising people Yang," Blake said. "Especially when you think you can win."

"Think?" Yang grinned. "Two tattoos, Jaune in drag and a can of cat food says it's know." She took another swig. "I would say the name of everything that I dumped on Ruby but as don't have all day."

Off to the side, Ruby let out a retch and shivered at the memory. Weiss managed to hear a whisper of 'so disgusting.' Sympathetically Pyrrha patted the younger girls back.

Weiss however was now starting to feel rather annoyed of Yang's cocky tone. Judging from Yang's smirk her irritation was starting to show.

"You got something to say Ice Queen," she said, enunciating the nickname to maximise its effect. "It's starting to seem like you just like me paying for your tattoos."

Weiss closed her eyes and began to count to ten. As much as she would love to wipe the smug smirk off of Yang's faces, this really hadn't gone well last time. The blonde's arrogance was insufferable but even more frustrating was that it was earned. Let someone else be the one to challenge Yang. Watching could be almost as fun.

"I'll even let you pick," Yang practically sang. "We can do anything you want."

Don't engage.

"I understand your nervous. I would be if I was facing me."

Her patience broke and Weiss turned to face the cocky older girl. Screw the consequences. She would not sit here and be treated like a child shrinking away from the brilliance of Yang Xiao Long.

Various comebacks and retorts filled her mind but before she could respond, someone beat her to the punch.

"Yang can you stop trying to show off for once and just shu-" Ruby froze, hands flying to her lips. "I'm sorry I didn't-"

The girl trailed off, biting her lip as all eyes turned to her. Weiss blinked, as taken aback as everyone else by her friend's outburst. Well not quite everyone as Yang recovered quickly, shock quickly devolving to anger.

"What's going on with you?"

"N-nothing."

The stuttering did little to convince anyone, least of all her stubborn sister.

"Like hell there isn't," Yang snapped. "You've been acting weird all week and don't think I haven't noticed you talking to dad then stopping when I enter the room."

"It's not like that."

"It sure feels like it."

Weiss stared unsure of what to do. She wasn't used to watching fights. Weiss was normally the one in the fights. A side effect of being too short tempered and easy to bait. Emerald had always been able to push her buttons with ease just to try and impress Cinder. Or Weiss would get too defensive and she would lash out. Like with Blake and Winter.

The point was Weiss had no idea to act as a peacekeeper. Let alone try to calm down two of her friends arguing about something she had no idea about. She had thought Ruby was just acting weird around her, but something must be going on with her to be acting like this.

And it seemed liked the others agreed.

"Yang maybe you should calm down," Blake said. "I'm sure Ruby isn't trying to-"

"You know Yang," Ruby said standing up. "Maybe I'm not talking to you about it because I knew you would make it about you."

A look of hurt shot through the blonde's lilac eyes before quickly hardening. But before she or anyone else could respond, Ruby simply turned on the spot and ran.

"Screw you Ruby," Yang muttered, turning to leave. "I'll see you all later. It's been just swell."

"Yang don't be an idiot. You are not driving your bike right now," Blake said before turning back to the group. "Pyrrha, Weiss make sure Ruby is okay. Sun can you-"

"Yeah," the Faunus said. "I'm right behind you."

Pyrrha was already running, not wanting to give Ruby any chance to increase the gap between them. Weiss knew Pyrrha worked out, those legs, but she had never realised just how fast Ruby was. Her small form practically flew over the sand and Weiss could only hope that Pyrrha could outlast her because frankly Weiss had no chance of keeping up.

But for some reason, the young heiress had already pulled her sun dress over her body and was about to ready herself to sprint after them. And then she realised that everyone was gone with no one to look after their things. Bags, wallets and purses had all been forgotten during the sister's argument.

Looking up, Weiss realised that both Pyrrha and Ruby were a blip in the distance. Sun, Yang and Blake were out of sight too. That just left her here, hanging around like a spare sock.

Sighing, she started to gather up everyone's things. Might as well make herself useful. Plus, it would distract her from thinking about two friends fighting. The wounds of her fight with Winter still to raw for her to think about Ruby and Yang in much detail.

Moving over to Rubys bag, Weiss frowned at the notebook that was sticking out it. Not a notebook actually. It was her sketchbook. Why did she have that with her? Ruby treasured that sketchbook and never took it anywhere from what Weiss had been able to tell. She wouldn't risk losing it or anyone else seeing it. For some reason the second option seemed to worry Ruby more.

Curiosity started to bite at Weiss. No that wasn't true, the curiosity had been biting at her from the moment that Ruby had mentioned it. Just ignore it, Weiss told herself. You don't even care about art only music. Why should you care about this art just because your friend drew it?

The answer was simple. It was because Ruby had drawn it.

Her hand started to slowly inch towards the worn sketch book. It would only be a small peak, she reasoned. No one, least of all Ruby, would ever have to know. Her fingers reached out to clasp the pad of paper...

And then she sighed and grabbed the backpacks handle instead. Groaning, Weiss picked up the bag and moved over to the makeshift pile. With all her friends stuff organised and safe, the heiress sat down and tried not to think about the sketch book. Dust things were easier when she was a bitch.

* * *

It was ten minutes before Ruby returned. Her hood was back over her head as though she was trying to hide. Weiss shook her head, amused by the act. Like there could be anyone else who could wear a hoodie in this heat. Weiss frowned. Even Ruby would be sweating in this heat. Was she trying punish herself or just clinging to the familiarity?

Whatever the reason, Ruby was clearly deep in thought and didn't seem to notice Weiss sitting there until she almost stepped on her. Silver eyes met piercing blue. Then Rubys eyes darted to her own bag clearly wondering if she could grab it and run before Weiss caught her. Unfortunately, she could and they both knew it.

Fortunately, Weiss had planned for that and as Ruby took a step towards her bag, Weiss wordlessly held up the sketchbook. Rubys face filled with panic and Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Don't worry, I didn't look," Weiss said. "I just figured that you would come back for it." There was a pause. "You don't believe me?"

"I do," Ruby said quickly. "I trust you..."

Ruby trailed off leaving an awkward silence between the two friends. How could a sketchbook cause this? Quick just change the subject.

"I see you managed to outrun Pyrrha. Speed beats stamina it appears."

Ruby let out a small grin that looked slightly forced. It seemed she too had noticed the awkwardness.

"I ran up a pier then dropped down the other side," she explained. "She thought I ran into the streets."

"Clever."

"Yeah..."

Oh god damn it. Ruby looked away from her, doodling in the sand with her toe to avoid the awkwardness. Taking advantage of this, Weiss dropped her head in her hands and internally berated herself for being so useless at this.

Alright you can do this.

"Ruby," she said after a pause. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

Instantly, her friend shook her head but thankfully she didn't try and run. Weiss sighed not really sure how to proceed. Casting her mind back a few weeks, the heiress tried to remember what Ruby had done for her when she had needed it. A slight smile came to her face as she remembered.

Ruby had knocked on every door in her apartment building.

"Ruby sit down," she said, firmly.

There was a brief pause before her friend responded. Taking a few steps closer, Ruby sat arms wrapped around her knees with her chin resting on top. Rolling her eyes again at the gap Ruby had left between them, Weiss scooted closer.

"Now what's going on?" she said again. "And why won't you tell Yang?"

And why won't you tell me, a small voice in her head asked. Weiss pushed it down, for once in her life trying not to focus on herself. Ruby hadn't responded but she didn't try to push her. Weiss simply waited and watched as the younger girl chewed on her lip.

Then finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Ruby finally spoke.

"I got accepted into Art School."

Weiss blinked, too shocked to reply right away. She had known that Ruby had an interest in the subject and from the little that Ruby had reluctantly shown her, Weiss had known she was pretty good at it too. It had just never occurred to her that Ruby might make a career out of it.

Much too late Weiss realised that Ruby was waiting for a reaction that the heiress really should have been quicker giving. Even now though she still wasn't really sure how to react. It had just been so unexpected an announcement.

"I didn't know you had applied."

It sounded lame even to her.

"I didn't," Ruby sighed, resting her cheeks in her hands. "Dad applied for me. Even submitted a folio of my work. He said that he knew I wouldn't apply even if I wanted to."

"Did you want to?"

"...yes, well no but... Ugh I don't know." Ruby let out an exasperated groan. "Studying art properly would be amazing but I don't know how Yang will take it."

A frown made its way across the heiress face. Yang would be supportive of her sister surely. She always was. Winter cared for Weiss and Weiss cared for her, but their upbringing made it difficult for either of them to really show it.

"Won't she just be happy for you?"

"She will or at least she'll try to be." Ruby sighed again. "But it will upset her that I won't be around as much. Yang can be sensitive about that sort of thing."

Weiss thought back to her bike ride with Yang. How much having Pyrrha and Ruby doubt her had hurt and just how grateful she had been that Weiss was on her side. Despite Yang's arrogant and laid back outward appearance, Ruby leaving would upset her. She would never stop her sister and would always be happy for her success but part of her would be resentful about being left behind.

"I guess I can understand that," Weiss muttered. "But that doesn't change this is still your choice to make. You can't use Yang as a reason not to go."

"I'm not. It's just-"

Ruby was interrupted by the sound of Weiss scroll starting to buzz. Weiss ignored the sound hoping that it would stop and Ruby would continue. An eternity passed within a few seconds before the phone finally stopped but just as Weiss nodded for Ruby to go on, it started again.

"Oh for goodness sake."

Cursing internally at the poor timing, Weiss pulled out the phone to see who was determined for this situation with Ruby to be unresolved. Her frustrations dwindled slightly however as she saw who it was.

 _Calling Neptune_

"You should probably answer that," Ruby said softly. Weiss wondered if she had seen the name. "It might be important."

For a moment Weiss hesitated.

"This is important," she said firmly, switching off her scroll and missing the way Rubys eyes lit up. "I can talk to him later."

"So what do you think I should do?"

Weiss looked at her, unable to contain an amused smirk.

"Why are you asking me? It's your future."

Ruby blushed slightly.

"Y-Yeah but I trust you," she stammered. "And you are the only person I know who has made a big life change before."

"Hardly. That choice got made for me. You should ask Winter if you are looking for advice on that." Rubys face turned hopeful. "We are not talking to my sister about this before yours."

The hope turned into a whine.

"But Weiss..."

"No."

The two stared at each other, eyes locked in a standoff for a few seconds before Ruby broke out in laughter. Weiss felt a slight tug at her lips before she finally relented into a full smile.

"You are ridiculous Ruby Rose."

Ruby grinned broadly.

"Yup and all the better for it."

A slight breeze blew through the beach, picking up the sand and flickering it across the ground. Weiss felt herself grow slightly colder.

"I'll miss you," she said honestly. "When you're gone."

"Hey I haven't made up my mind yet," Ruby said quickly, ever determined to never upset anyone. "I might not go."

Weiss just smiled sadly.

"Yes you have."

There was slight pause as Ruby shuffled her foot on the sand.

"It's not like I'll be gone. I would come back most weeks and still work as Beacon." She grinned again. "Besides you can come visit me. You aren't getting rid of me that easily."

They talked for another half hour before Pyrrha finally returned, a look of relief on her face. Both girls felt guilty over having forgotten to pull her off her hunt but Pyrrha waved off their concern simply happy that Weiss had managed to talk to her. Ruby wouldn't explain though. She apologised and promised to explain later, but first she needed to talk to Yang.

* * *

Weiss lay on her couch texting Neptune. She felt a little guilty only really texting her crush to take her mind off her the day's events. Ruby had promised to message once she had talked to Yang and Weiss found herself more worried about Yang. Blake had managed to stop the girl riding her bike drunk but they hadn't seen her after that. Hopefully, she would calm down and the two sisters could sort their issues out.

"Weiss," Winter called out from the kitchen unit. "Can you set the table?"

Dust Weiss hated that. If Winter needed her to do something there was no need to pose it as a question. Just say, hey Weiss, set the table while I finish cooking... Calling what Winter did cooking was probably being generous to her skills. Winter Schnee was many things but a chef was not one of them.

Sending off one last message, Weiss got up and started setting the table. A few minutes later and both sisters were sitting eating spaghetti. It was still surreal for her at points. Here they were, two daughters of one of the richest men in the world and they were sitting in a tiny apartment, eating spaghetti.

"You should be careful," Winter said suddenly. "I found a flaw in our showering system."

Weiss froze. Did she know? Putting on a mask of casual innocence, Weiss continued to spin her food around her fork.

"Really? And what's that?"

Winter paused to take a drink of water, before looking very deliberately at Weiss.

"If you turn on the hot water at the sink, it redirects it from the shower."

"Huh, that's very strange."

"Indeed."

"A very flawed system."

"Quite."

Her mouth suddenly dry, Weiss moved to take another drink only to find her glass empty. Using it as an excuse, Weiss stood up.

"I guess we will just have to be careful with our showers then. Shouldn't be too hard." She started walking towards the fridge. "Would you like a drink?"

"I'm fine thank you."

It seemed Winter was not going to confront her about this content to simply let Weiss know that she knew. That was good for Weiss as it meant she wouldn't have to explain her sudden moment of childish weakness. Besides Winter wasn't petty enough to ever retaliate or creative enough for Weiss to be worried if she was. This matter was probably behind them now as long as Weiss didn't escalate it.

The buzzing of her scroll paused Weiss with her arm outstretched to the fridge door. It was probably Neptune again but still she reached for it still half wondering if she should escalate things with Winter just to see what would happen. Borrow one of Ruby's hoodies and drop it in her sisters washing.

Oh sending Winter too work in bubble-gum pink clothing would be amazing.

Supressing a smirk at the picture in her head, Weiss opened her scroll to see a message from Ruby.

 _Yang finally got back and we talked for a bit. She seems to be taking it okay. Thanks for the talk today. I think I needed that._

Weiss closed the scroll without replying. Sounds like Ruby was going to art school then. That was good... for her. Great even. Weiss sighed. It was great news for Ruby but it was still slightly weird that the first real friend she had made here could be leaving. According to Ruby, it wasn't that far away only an hour on the bus and the course itself was only four days a week. She would still be back all the time... Until she wasn't.

Shaking her head, the young heiress pushed the negative thoughts from her head. She was being stupid. Ruby would be back nearly every week just to see Zwei. This wouldn't change that much.

"Your dinners getting cold," Winter said. "You should get that drink."

Letting out a huff of annoyance at her sister, Weiss opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of coke. Setting it down on the counter, she began to open it, reconsidering the idea of pink Winter due to her sisters attitu-

Without warning the top of the bottle exploded and Weiss let out a shriek as the juice foamed out. Fizz and liquid filled the counter as Weiss fought desperately to contain the lid. It died down as quickly as it began leaving Weiss completely soaked from head to toe.

Slowly she turned around already bracing herself for the lecture that was sure to occur. Winter was going to be furious. For something that wasn't even Weiss's fault too.

The she saw it. At the bottom of the bottle just out of the corner of her eye, Weiss could see a small white object fizzing in the liquid. It looked suspiciously like a mint...

Weiss whipped her head around so fast, her sopping wet ponytail almost smacked her in the face. She glared accusingly at her sister who just sat stone faced staring back. Then she picked up her glass and took a drink of water.

"The mops in the cupboard."

* * *

Jaune - "So we still fine to use yours and Rens place for Ruby's birthday

Nora- "Sure as long as you help clean it and don't bail on us again

Jaune - "Hey I had a date. I couldn't just leave her"

Nora - "She could have helped"

Jaune - "Nora"

Nora - "oh like she was so important to you"

Nora - "I bet you can't even remember her name"

Jaune - "Sure I can"

Nora - "Its been seven minutes Jaune"

Jaune - "Well giving you her name now would be tactless"

Jaune - "So we can use your place for planning as well?"

Nora - "Yeah it'll be great"

Nora - "We can play party games"

Nora - "Like twister!"

Nora - "Or drink Jenga!"

Nora - "Oh just make sure to message before coming round"

Jaune - "Yeah wouldn't want to walk in on you guys doing it or anything"

Jaune -" haha"

Jaune - "Nora?"


	19. Chapter 19

"Black coffee for Blake, tea for Pyrrha, hot chocolate for Jaune and a latte for me."

Placing the drinks with their respective owners, Weiss sat down happily. Taking a drink of her own coffee only pausing when she noticed no one was saying anything. Looking up there was an awkward moment of silence.

Then all three of them swapped their drinks without a word.

"Really?" Weiss said. "I didn't get any of it right?"

"Well you got your own right," Jaune said, before pausing. "You did get your own right?"

"Obviously."

She neglected to mention she had forgotten to pick up sugar for her own drink.

"How are you still so bad at this?" Blake said, teasingly. "It was only three things you had to remember

"Technically four."

"Your own doesn't count."

"Four."

"I'm sure Weiss was just a little tired after a long day," Pyrrha said, taking a drink of her hot chocolate. "We did all get our drinks after all, just a little mixed up."

Weiss smiled appreciating the support. Today had been a rather long shift and she didn't need Pyrrha joining in with the teasing from Blake and Jaune. Everything had gotten there after all.

"Thank you Pyrrha."

"Didn't you ask for whipped cream?" Blake said, casually. "And marshmallows?"

All eyes turned to Pyrrha.

"Not in so many words..."

Her head hit the table with a thud as Weiss let out a groan. Three things. She couldn't remember three things after working at Beacon for three months now. It really shouldn't be that difficult.

Hangouts like this were fairly common at Beacon. Once the staff had closed and cleaned up for the night, the staff would sometimes just grab a drink and relax for a bit. Only if they had nothing else on which Weiss never did.

"So how has Yang been doing?"

At Jaunes words Weiss looked up, interested in Blake's answer. Ruby had been more positive about her decision to go to art school even if she was still nervous. She hadn't really seen Yang much since then. They had worked a few shifts and Yang had seemed normal then, chatting and smiling to the customers like nothing was wrong.

But no one had missed that she was talking less on the group chat.

"She's... coping." Blake sighed. "You know how Yang is. She doesn't want Ruby to go but she would hate even more for Ruby to give up on something she wants for her. She just needs time."

The last words didn't exactly inspire confidence but Blake had known Yang longer than any of them longer except Ruby. If Blake said Yang needed time, then that's all she needed. She had managed to calm Yang down after hers and Rubys argument after all.

"So Jaune," Pyrrha said in an effort to change the subject. "You managed to get a present yet?"

"Yes as a matter of fact, I have."

Jaune puffed out his chest, proud of his achievement that seemed rather minor to Weiss. Then again she couldn't remember three orders so maybe she shouldn't judge so harshly.

"Wow that's a whole week ahead of time," Blake said, dryly. "I'm impressed."

"I shall not be lectured on gift giving by you Blake Belladonna."

Sensing a bout of half teasing that she would struggle to join in on, Weiss decided to quickly defuse the situation.

"Who's it for?" she asked.

It hardly mattered since Weiss wouldn't know them anyway. Taking a drink of her coffee she already felt her mind begin to wonder, only for it to snap back rather quickly when Jaune didn't answer her. Looking up she found three rather guilty faces staring back at each other.

"What?"

There was another pause as her friends glanced at each other. Her eyes narrowed as a feeling of dread began to build within her.

"What?"

"It occurs to me," Blake said slowly. "That you probably don't know a lot of our birthdays yet."

"That would be a correct assumption."

"And if we weren't talking about it in the group chat to keep it a surprise," Pyrrha said. "Then it would be rather difficult for you to find out about any that might be coming up."

"It would."

Weiss turned to Jaune as it was now his turn to drag out this situation even more. The blonde fiddled with his hands avoiding eye contact knowing that he was going to take the full extent of her ire once she got to the bottom of how badly she was screwed.

"Rubys birthday is next Thursday," he said, deciding to just rip off the band aid. Taking a drink mostly to avoid her glare he asked nonchalantly. "You aren't busy that day are you?"

And of course it would be Rubys birthday. Letting out a groan over just how screwed she was. She had less than a week and not nearly enough funds for this. On top of that Weiss didn't even know what to get her friend or where to buy the thing that she didn't even know what it was yet.

"You are all going to help me find something," Weiss said with a glare. "Finish your drinks."

"I was going to hang out with Sun." Blake said, before Weiss turned on her. "You know I'm sure he'd love to come to. I'll just text him the now."

* * *

Though many would probably be shocked to hear, Weiss had never been much of a fan of shopping. Maybe it was just because she had enough money that it had soon become boring for the heiress. No need to decide between outfits when you could afford to buy the whole store if she made a call to her father.

Family shopping had never happened. Her parents would never be seen dead with the general public and Winter had disliked the crowds. Back in Atlas, Weiss was more well-known and the stores were told to discount her to promote their stores. Amber had disliked shopping as much as her so the only times Weiss would go was to maintain social connections with her classmates.

The only time she could remember enjoying the experience was with Mercury, Cinder and Emerald. Even that wasn't exactly shopping. It was mostly just skipping school and hanging out. Occasionally, Weiss would buy things for them or Emerald would shoplift just because she could or she wanted to impress Cinder. Mercury had used to say that Emerald was jealous of Weiss's ability to buy things for Cinder.

Needless to say, the memories of her rebellious phase had been tainted somewhat as of late.

So the idea of shopping wasn't exactly a thrilling one especially since she had very limited funds and no idea what she to get Ruby. The only things she could think of, all the others had already bought her.

That wasn't completely true. Weiss could think of some things. Clothes, books, shoes. It all just seemed so impersonal. She had thought about getting her art supplies but didn't really know what sort of stuff Ruby actually needed. Her art knowledge was severely limited.

After visiting their third store, Sun and Neptune arrived which improved Weiss's mood somewhat.

"What's up bitches," Sun practically yelled, ignoring the looks of passes by. "Heard y'all needed some gift giving advice."

"Yeah we do actually," Blake said dryly. "Know anyone good?"

"Well I am god's gift to woman. Actually god's gift to you since I'm so faithful."

"Hmm," Blake said, as though contemplating the notion. "Do you come with a receipt?"

Sun decided to forgo an actual witty response and skipped straight to just Pickering user his girlfriend and spinning her around in a hug, much to her chagrin.

"Sun," she practically squawked, abandoning her usual cool. "Put me down."

"Can't, I'm the gift that keeps on giving baby."

Rolling her eyes at the couple's behaviour, Weiss turned her attention over to her... to Neptune. He grinned at her, a cocky look in his eye as he strolled up to her. Dust how did you even make goggles and blue hair look good?

"Hey there Snow Angel," he said. "You are looking simply radiant today."

She didn't, Weiss looked exactly like she was. Someone who had just finished a long shift at work. Still Weiss appreciated the compliment. But of course she couldn't possibly show that.

"Did you expect anything less?"

"Not really," he replied. "But you still have people to tell us when the suns hot."

Weiss blushed letting out a girlish giggle. So much for staying aloof.

"Not to interrupt or anything," Pyrrha said. "But aren't we meant to be hunting for a present for Ruby."

"Yeah," Jaune said. "You are all making us feel like third wheels here."

"Can two people really be third wheels?" Blake asked

"Yeah," Sun said, not so casually. "Just couple up with Pyrrha and you'll be golden."

Pyrrha practically froze, her face reddening as she failed to find a reply. Fortunately for her, Jaune remained his usual self.

"Please I wouldn't do that to Pyrrha," he laughed. "I mean, I've heard of reaching and settling in a relationship but Pyrrha and I aren't even in the same sport."

"You shouldn't say things like that Jaune," Pyrrha said before continuing more quietly. "Any girl would be lucky to have you..."

"Thanks Pyrrha but you aren't fooling anyone."

Oh for the love of god. Even Sun seemed to regret the conversation he had started due to how painful it was to watch. Jaune had to be gay, Weiss decided. He was secretly gay and didn't want to hurt his friend. That was the only way to explain this level of oblivious.

"Anyway now that you're here," Weiss said, steering away from that train wreck. "We can get on with this. I need help finding a gift for Ruby so what have you got for me?"

"Absolutely nothing," Sun said ignoring her glare. "Actually I had one idea but I got her that. A giant gummy bear if you're interested."

"I am actually. It sounds fascinating," she said sarcastically. "What flavour did you get her?"

"Cherry what else?"

Weiss grit her teeth, feeling a vein beginning to form in her head. She couldn't tell what was more annoying. The fact they were so unhelpful, that fact Sun cared so little or the fact their gift was one Ruby would actually like a lot.

"Neptune," she said sweetly. "Any ideas?"

"I'm kinda splitting the gummy bear with Sun... He couldn't really handle the shipping on his own. "

Weiss groaned. The Vale shopping centre wasn't exactly huge and they had already gone to about a half of the useful stores. Sun and Neptune were meant to be the lifelines and they were both useless.

"Okay we still have," she checked her scroll and her voice cracked slightly. "Forty minutes until the store closes so we still have time to get her something today."

"Why does it have to be today anyway," Neptune asked. "Party's on Tuesday and its only Thursday."

"Well I can't leave it to Monday and I'm working Saturday on Yang's cart project," Weiss replied exasperated. "That only leaves me tomorrow and Sunday."

"The shopping centre is closed on Sunday," Jaune added. "And I didn't know you were working Saturday. We'll be doing it together."

Weiss felt her eyes roll back.

"Well my day keeps getting better and better."

"Hey!"

Blake placed a reassuring hand on Weiss's shoulder as the heiress slumped miserably. This shouldn't be such a big deal but to her it felt like the end of the world. Ruby wouldn't even care. Weiss could give her a hug and the younger girl would be genuinely over the moon.

Part of her wondered if it was just Ruby or if she would care this much over any of them. Probably not all of them would elicit this reaction as callous as that sounded. She would put this effort into Yang or Pyrrha probably. Everyone else probably would have gotten a gift on the third store.

"Alright then enough dilly dallying," she said. "To the next store."

"Did you just say dilly dallying?" Blake asked.

"To the next store!"

* * *

Half an hour late and Weiss was really starting to get desperate. There was really nothing here that seemed like something Ruby would like or get use out of. She thought she had struck gold in a small figurine store. She had thought that Ruby would be able to use them in her art pieces due to her fondness for fantasy themes.

Then Jaune and Pyrrha had caught up and informed her that she was right. Ruby probably would love that... which is why Nora had already gotten her several including an ogre, a brute, an elf and a Grimm reaper. Why Jaune had thought this specific information important enough to share, Weiss didn't know.

"What about clothes? I could get her a skirt or something? Ugh no she wouldn't really care about that and I couldn't afford anything nicer. Oh, how do you all deal with being poor?" Her brain caught up with her rambles too late. "Don't answer that."

Thankfully the others seemed to find it more amusing than anything else. Only Neptune was really unused to her occasional jumps into the realms of upper class. To his credit, he took it with little more than a few seconds pause. Probably just remembering how different their backgrounds really were.

It had bothered her a little on a few occasions and not just with Neptune. Everyone here was so different from her life. Family meals, their friendships, even their school experiences had been vastly different. Neptune and Sun had constantly been in detention though from the way they described it, their teachers had liked them regardless. Everyone had a favourite teacher or a funny story about their education days.

None of Weiss's tutors had been anything but that, tutors. They were expected to make sure she excelled and passed every lesson with flying colours. Weiss always did even if she probably shouldn't have. The reason was simple and the same reason that she had never once had a detention.

Who would dare risk the wrath of a Schnee?

"Can I ask you something Snow Angel?"

Weiss stiffened before she could stop herself. Neptune hesitated, taken aback by her reaction and clearly unsure one how to continue.

"Uhh are you alright?"

"It's nothing," she said forcing a smile. "You just startled me. I'm kinda focused on getting this right."

"Oh that's good... But that's kinda what I wanted to ask. Why do you care so much?"

"She's my friend. Isn't that what you do for friends?"

"Obviously but people don't normally freak out over it like you're doing. Especially since you've only really known her three months." Weiss didn't say anything and Neptune quickly spoke again, rambling slightly. "Don't get me wrong, I think it's pretty sweet, I'm just wondering if there's a reason..."

Weiss blushed, embarrassed that her attitude was so noticeable. Dust he probably thought she was a neurotic dork... Though he did say it was sweet. Maybe he might understand. She wanted to date him didn't she? Or at least try and see how it goes.

"It's just... I've never really had to buy presents for people before."

"Wait really? How does that work? I thought you had friends?"

"Obviously I did," she said quickly. "Just not a lot of close ones... Well really I only had one and we agreed not to get each other anything after a while. For everyone else, my father kind of dealt with it..."

And by her father, she meant her father secretary. They would ensure that Weiss was seen to be giving the appropriate gifts to the appropriate people. It had never really bothered her. Why would it? Her class mates tended to be as rich as her (well they were rich anyway) so they had everything that Weiss could have got them. Birthdays and gift giving was simply a contract that needed to be fulfilled. Nothing more and nothing less.

Here it was different. This actually meant something and Weiss was not going to screw it up.

"It's just important that I get it right. I would do it for any of them," she lied. "So I'm going to find something here even if I have to go to every store in this centre."

* * *

"Well that was the last store in this centre," Blake said.

Weiss let out a groan of dismay and for the first time in months, legitimately hated Vale. For the most part, the seaside town had been good to Weiss but today it had completely failed her and Weiss yearned for a bustling metropolis that held single stores the size of this centre.

They had almost not tried the last store, with Blake and Pyrrha having to convince her. It had been some small store with tacky fake jewels in the window that seemed to specialise in fake magic and the arcane arts. Yeah, Vale had one of those stores but nothing that could help her get a normal gift for her friend. That was impossible but Weiss could buy Ruby all the magic dust in the world.

She hadn't bought her that, obviously, nor did she purchase the witches grimoire or the love potion. She was sure that Pyrrhas gaze had paused on that slightly longer than the others. Pyrrha had denied it, of course, though her slightly pink didn't support her statements.

That had managed to delay her feelings of despair for a little longer but now Weiss had resigned herself to the fact, she was going to let down Ruby entirely. The others were having little success in trying to convince the heiress she was being over dramatic.

"You still have time Weiss," Pyrrha said comfortingly. "I'm sure you'll be able to find something another day."

"Where?" she said dully. "This is the only shopping centre in Vale isn't it?"

"Well yes but..."l

It appeared that Pyrrha did not have a but. Weiss let out a huff of bitter amusement. Yang would have had a joke about that if she was here. Pyrrha turned to their other friends hoping for some support. After a few moments of silent, Jaune tried his hand.

"You could try making her something?"

"Do I look like I can draw?"

"Umm maybe?" Weiss glared at him. "Well you don't have to draw. You can sing right?"

"I'm not singing for her," she replied curtly. "That's just ridiculous."

"Well I'm sure you'll think of something," Blake said. "And we'll let you know if we think of anything."

"Thanks," she said trying not to take her frustrations out on them. They had stayed with her for two hours after work finished to help her. Turns out it wasn't even worth it in the end. "I just want to go home. Sorry for wasting your time."

Offering varying words of comfort and reassurance, the group started to disperse all heading home. Pyrrha was heading back to her student accommodation, Jaune and Neptune were just heading home (separate homes, obviously) while Blake and Sun were heading for their date, an hour delayed. She felt a little guilty about that.

That just left her alone to half walk and half sulk her way back to her apartment. What was she going to do? There was that scarf in one of the shops (red of course). That was kinda nice... Except they lived in a seaside town of near constant sun shine making it useless.

 _"You could try making her something?"_

Everyone else already had something, taking all the good or obvious ideas. Ren had ordered her some new pencils (since apparently different lead types were a thing) and Nora had the figurines. Pyrrha had been hesitant to reveal she had bought a dress for Ruby that Weiss had been considering. Blake had gotten her an illustrated book of original fairy tales and even Jaune had managed to get her a pass for the Vytal festival.

Weiss still had no idea what the Vytal festival was but had been to focused on searching to ask for details. She was pretty sure Winters work had something to do with it so she could always ask her.

The point was, Weiss was still screwed. Logically she knew Ruby wouldn't mind at all, especially once someone explained that Weiss hadn't even known about it until today. That fact made it feel worse though. It wasn't a good enough excuse. She was Rubys friend wasn't she? Surely it should have come up at some point. Weiss had just been too self-absorbed to think to ask, as per usual. Every time she thought was getting better something appeared to knock her for six again.

 _"You could try making her something?"_

Neptune probably thought she was crazy and neurotic now too. This was the first time they had been together for an extended period of time and she had ruined it. Sure he had said it was sweet but it had still been awkward after. Trying to talk felt... well it felt like trying to talk. They could flirt easily enough but anything past that and Weiss couldn't help but think they really had nothing in common.

Ugh today had been a disaster. Never before had Weiss felt quite so much like a stereotypical teenage girl from a rom-com but right now all she wanted to do was curl up in her bed and eat ice cream. Maybe she could finally finish a full Crescent Rose...

 _"You could try making her something?"_

Weiss slowed to a stop. The idea had formed in her head before she could stop it. A ridiculous idea, in more ways than one but Ruby had always been a bit ridiculous herself. Her friend would like it, almost certainly and it would be a personal gift. It just depended on whether or not Weiss could pull it off.

A car horn beeped and Weiss almost jumped out of her skin. Fortunately, the horn hadn't been directed at her (if the cyclist flipping off a car was any indication) but it did make Weiss realise how lost in her own thoughts she had been. She didn't even know how long she had been walking.

It was then she realised that she was standing in front of Beacon. A complete coincidence of course, Weiss was not one to be called superstitious. Still it did seem like a rather compelling sign.

Her mind made up, Weiss changed course from home to her nearest food store. She needed a lot of chocolate, fruit and ice cream. In four days she was finally going to figure out what she had been failing to do for months.

And god damn it, Weiss was going to make the best damn dessert special that Ruby had ever tasted.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **Hey all, sorry for the slightly slow updates as of late. I've been quite busy this summer so have been slacking. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up the pace soon.**

 **Hope you are still all enjoying this fic. However if you aren't or there are parts you think I could improve, please let me know. I do read and try to reasond to all reviews.**

 **Thanks again**


	20. Chapter 20

"The Vytal festival?"

Winter looked surprised, moving the trolley down the aisle with precision not seen outside of military manoeuvres. Weiss rolled her eyes. Trust her sister to turn food shopping into war games. She decided not to comment though, instead just picking up a bag of chocolate chips and adding it to the trolley.

"Yes the others keep mentioning it and since you work at Atlas I was wondering if you knew more since Ruby mentioned Atlas organises it."

Pausing to pick up a bag of mini marshmallows, Weiss tossed them into the trolley before noticing it had stopped moving. Then she noticed the look on Winters face.

"What?"

"You do realise," Winter said, more than a little miffed. "That my job, for the past few months, is to help oversee the itinerary for the Vytal festival. A fact I mention to you every time you ask me how my day was."

Oh... Turning away from her sister's stone face, Weiss added some wafers to her pile as she tried to casually play off the fact, she didn't really listen to the details of her Winters day.

"So you know a little about it then?"

Letting out a sigh, Winter returned to pushing the trolley.

"The Vytal festival," she explained. "Is an annual event run by Atlas celebrating the founding of Vale. Nothing too out of the ordinary really. Roller coasters, amusements carnival games and food vendors. It's all good fun."

She said the word in a way only Winter could.

"So that's all it is." Weiss had to admit she was slightly disappointed. The others, particularly Yang, had been excited about the event and she had gotten caught up in it a little. It sounded like it would be a good time but nothing to get too excited over. "A carnival?"

"Well that's the part I work on, specifically the games section. But there are..."Winter paused. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I just like the idea of you working on a game section." Winter glared at her. "I'm serious. Do you have to run a stall? Do you give out teddy bears as prizes?"

"Shut up."

Weiss stopped in her tracks.

"Please tell me you have a dunk tank."

Her sister let out a noise of disgust.

"Yes," she said and Weiss felt her heart soar with glee. "And I have nothing to do with it."

Dreams shattered. Probably a good thing though. Winter temperament was more likely to freeze the water than fall into it.

"Anyway," Winter continued. "The festival also features the Vytal tournament. Anyone can put together a team to compete in various events against other teams. It's fun."

Winter had to stop saying that word.

In any case, that was probably why the others, particularly Yang, had been looking forward to the festival. The blonde's competitive nature was unrivalled so this was probably a perfect fit for her. Weiss would probably end up competing, she supposed, if there was space on a team, no doubt they would want her. Hell they would probably bump Jaune to tag her in.

Idly thinking about what sort of events there would be, who she would be competing against and if she could get Winter to give her insider knowledge, Weiss almost walked into an older woman. Only Winter grabbing her collar stopped the embarrassing collision though the other patron still looked up surprised.

"Sorry," Weiss said quickly. "I didn't mean-"

"Watch where you are going Weiss," Winter muttered. "Sorry about that Ma'am."

The older woman smiled kindly, waving away the apology.

"Oh it's quite alright. No harm done." The gentle smile turned into a frown as she noticed the Schnees cart. Specifically, the pile of confectionary and ice cream that Weiss had amassed.

"Although that there could do a little harm if you aren't careful. You really shouldn't let your daughter eat so much sugar."

"It's not for me," Weiss said defensively. "It's part of a gift for a friend." Then her brain caught up with what the woman had said. "Wait, you think I'm her daughter?"

Winter hadn't said anything, just staring mouth slightly open at the unintentional slight.

"Oh yes," the older woman continued, obvious to Winters ire. "You do look quite alike. Such lovely hair. Anyway, I had better be going. It was nice to meet you."

"A pleasure," Weiss beamed. "Isn't that right, mother?"

Her sister just blinked, as the woman walked away recovering too late to correct the mistake.

"I'm not her- She's my sister..." The protests dissolved into nothing, as turned to Weiss who was desperately trying to contain her laughter. "Not a word."

"Well you have been working late a lot."

"Seriously Weiss," Winter grumbled. "I'm only 26..."

"It's important for your skin to get proper rest," Weiss said. "I think I saw moisturiser down that aisle."

"Do you want to pay for all your things Weiss?"

Weiss's eyes widened at the threat, remembering how little money she had.

"You know what, she probably just thought I was young. At that age, her eye sights probably not what it used to be."

* * *

Sometimes Weiss wondered how much of a loss Beacon made based on the amount of free desserts the staff made. After a long shift it wasn't uncommon for the staff to hang out in the booths for a while and just relax. And when they did they often made themselves a little something as a reward.

Technically being paid should be the reward but Weiss was never one to turn down free desserts. Weiss still might not be able to make any of the specials (a fact Yang just loved to point out) but some of the dishes the others had made for her were incredible.

Ruby had Crescent Rose which was by far the most extravagant but Nora was a close second with her Magnhild, a variant of the Knickerbocker glory styled with pink bubble-gum ice cream, copious amounts of sauces and syrups and then topped with silver ball bearings.

Yang's had mentioned Ember Celica to Weiss way back in their interview but nothing could have prepared her for tasting that. Scoops of mango, orange and strawberry sorbets with small pockets of sherbet throughout that had left Weiss's mouth fizzing and popping, quite literally. Yang was quite proud of it though she was still trying to find a way to incorporate tequila into it.

Though the three dishes were certainly extravagant, Weiss had to admit they were all a little (a lot) to see sweet for her. It felt like she was shortening her life with every bite and barely made it through a third of them, each of the times she had tried them.

Everyone else tended to have much more reasonable dishes though all still rather unique to them. Ren's smoothie might look like blended seaweed but it somehow managed to tasted like a different fruit with each mouthful.

Blake's Gambol Shroud (which seemed like a very ominous name for a desert but whatever) was a banana split. She claimed she made it up before she met Sun and that it was racist for Weiss to assume otherwise. In any case it still tasted good.

Milo and Akouo... well Pyrrha had a lot of other talents.

Which led to Weiss's favourite though she would of course never admit it to anyone, least of all him. Jaunes Crocea Mors was simple but unlike all the others, it wasn't overwhelming. Why it was name after the sword of Julius Ceaser, Weiss had no idea. Considering Jaune, it was probably a reference to some game or something dumb.

And then there was Weiss's efforts...

* * *

"Stupid useless thing!"

That was probably the nicest thing Weiss had said the past hour. She had managed to switch her shift with Yang so she could work on her present for Ruby. Both Yang and Jaune were out selling ice cream on the streets with the new cart leaving Weiss, Blake and Pyrrha taking care of the store. Well mostly it was Blake and Pyrrha while Weiss stayed in the back. Thankfully it was a rather slow day.

Putting aside her latest attempt, a cherry and liquorice combo designed to reflect Rubys favourite colours, Weiss dumped her head onto the table. It had seemed like a good idea at the time but halfway through she had discovered that the temperature had made the liquorice rock hard and inedible. Well more inedible. Weiss hated liquorice.

"You look like you're struggling," Blake said from the doorway, making her jump. "How many is that now?"

Straightening up and flattening her uniform down, Weiss turned to mark down her progress in her note book. It was embarrassing how difficult she was finding this.

"That was attempt number four," she said casually before noticing Blake's raised eyebrow. "Attempt four of the cherry variation..."

Shaking her head, Blake smirked and made her way over to the table Weiss had set up shop on.

"Stay away from cherry," Blake said. "Ruby likes it okay but it's not her favourite."

Taking note of that fact, Weiss picked up her pencil again and scribbled out several possible ideas.

"No cherry..." She looked up at Blake. "What?"

"You have a notebook?"

Weiss glared at her.

"It's good to be organised," she replied shrilly. "Shouldn't you be helping Pyrrha anyway?"

"Probably, but so should you."

Well she couldn't argue with that. Sighing, she picked up the can of whipped cream, planning to start the next design with a cream base. To her annoyance when she pressed the button, nothing came out. Not really thinking, she picked it up and looked down the nozzle trying to see if it was blocked. Turned out, she had just finished it entirely.

Even more annoyed she placed it back down to see Blake smirking at her.

"That was the most disappointing outcome ever," the Faunus said dryly. "TV has lied to me. That should have been hilarious."

Weiss scowled but was prevented from responding by the sound of the back door opening and two blondes walking.

"Or arousing," Yang said, without missing a beat. Striding into the kitchen, she tossed her uniforms cap onto the counter. "Personally I'm good with either. What about you Jaune? Got a preference."

The other blonde didn't seem nearly as energetic as Yang, trudging behind her and half leant, half collapsed onto the counter.

"I have no comment."

"Smart," Weiss muttered before turning to her other friends. "Do you really think I would be stupid enough to spray this into my own-"

She was cut off as the can she was waving around, shot a burst of cream into the air. All eyes watched as it splattered harmlessly onto the floor before all eyes turned to her.

"So Yang," she deflected. "You're back early."

Thankfully if there was one thing Yang loved more than teasing it was boasting.

"Why yes we are Weiss, thank you for noticing," she said gleefully. "We have returned early because we completely sold out our stock, just like some very attractive and intelligent blonde bombshell predicted."

"I wouldn't call Jaune a bombshell myself," Blake smirk. "More like a noodle of some sort."

"I'll take it," Jaune said.

Ignoring both of them, Yang stuck out her tongue at her friends teasing and continued her victory speech.

"So even though all of you doubted me-"

"I backed you up," Weiss protested.

"And I wasn't there."

Annoyed at being interrupted again but seeing her point, Yang once again amended her speech.

"With only one moderately attractive sidekick to back her up-"

"Thank you?"

"I was able too triumphant and shine, surpassing even the wildest of expectations." Letting out a content sigh, Yang dropped into a stool. "Thank you and good night."

"You know it's still only four right?"

"You know Blake," Yang replied evenly. "It's real easy to sit on the side lines and judge. You try to and make a speech up on the fly."

"That's why I prepare all my speeches ahead of time. Inspired from classic literature I'll admit."

"I didn't realise smut had speeches," Weiss said dryly.

Hardly a unique or even a particularly witty remark. In fact, it was the easiest and most used method to pressing Blake's buttons. Still it had the desired effect of eliciting a blush from the Faunus.

"I do not read smut!"

Yang just laughed and it gave Jaune enough energy to look up for the counter. With a quick examination of the various sauces and toppings strewn across the surface and a glance at the completely full sink, he was able to sum up the situation quiet succinctly.

"Not had much luck then."

"Not so far," Weiss admitted. "I don't suppose either of you have any advice to what Ruby would want."

"As long as you made it Ruby won't care," Yang said. "But I doubt you will like that answer so just make sure it has strawberry's and chocolate and I'm sure she'll like it."

Yang was right, Weiss didn't like that answer. It was very supportive and comforting but gave no help or actual advice. Just terrific. Wow she would never have thought to use Rubys favourite foods into her present. Yang's insight into her sister was simply unparalleled.

She held her tongue though. Her biting sarcasm probably wouldn't be appreciated and alienating those of who's advice she might need wouldn't be prudent. It might be fun though. No focus.

"You could try asking Ren," Jaune offered. "He's the best cook I know."

"Not a bad idea," Blake said. "He and Nora don't live that far away and he's pretty good. I tried his haddock once and I considered leaving Sun."

"This is not the time for fish!" Weiss exclaimed. "I need Ice cream advice." There was a slight pause before everyone accepted that one, Weiss had just said that, two that she was completely serious and three, that pointing it out was just wasting everyone's time.

"So Ren then?" Jaune said. "I've got a spare key and I need to ask about Tuesday anyway."

"Might as well tag along," Blake said. "Yang?"

Yang opened her mouth to respond but then she hesitated.

"Actually I'll pass."

That made the three of them pause. Yang was smiling but it didn't seem as natural as usual. The normal sunny disposition that the blonde usually displayed was a bit more forced than usual. Weiss glanced at Blake wondering if she was overthinking it. Judging by the Faunus's pensive look, she was dead on the money.

"You sure?" Blake said. "You would normally want to."

Real subtle Blake.

Yang just continued to smile the smile that didn't suit her.

"Nah I'm good. Just kinda tired ya know? Have fun though. Let me know how you get on."

"I will." Blake was obviously reluctant to push her friend with others about. "We'll talk later."

With a nod Yang turned away, heading back out the back door and into alleyway. The door swung shut behind her and still no one had said anything. Then Blake suddenly turned and went back into the main room without a word.

"She'll been fine," Jaune said, though Weiss wasn't sure who he was reassuring. "Blake will talk to her. She knows Yang better than anyone."

"I hope you're right," Weiss said. "Come on. Help me clean this up so we can go when we close."

* * *

Pyrrha apologised (of course) but she couldn't come with them either. She had some report to finish for Thursday and with the party of Tuesday, Wednesday was not likely to be hugely productive either. Not if Nora had anything to do with it.

They didn't push too hard, understanding the reasons, but it did leave the group as the three people who had very little in common. They could all talk to each other but normally they had someone else to lead the conversation. And after Yang's strange behaviour, needless to say that there was little said during their walk.

Nora's and Ren's building was surprisingly nice. Apparently it used to belong to Ren's uncle or something so they got a very good rent rate. It had essentially turned into the Beacon groups hang out or party flat or at least that's what Jaune had told Weiss. They hadn't really had cause for a big party since Weiss had joined them with Rubys birthday being the first.

"Should we have phoned ahead," Weiss asked, as the elevator rose through the floors. "Isn't it kinda rude to drop by unannounced."

"I think it'll be fine," Jaune said. "When Nora gave me the key, she told me to come around anytime."

"Nora loves people and Ren's too laid back to care," Blake agreed. "But worst case scenario we'll just blame you."

Weiss rolled her eyes as the doors opened with a ping. Blake just smirked raising her hand too high five Jaune without the two even looking at each other.

"Wonderful," she muttered following Jaunes lead down a hallway. "Still you're probably right."

There was a reason that Weiss never fully committed in such sentences. She would always say probably no matter how small the possibility of being wrong. That way, if the worst, occurred then she would know that she wasn't actually wrong, just not fully correct.

For some inexplicable reason, Weiss found herself considering this mantra just as Jaune slid the key into the lock.

The door opened and the three strode in and Jaune opened his mouth to announce their arrival. However, that's as far as he got as the three guests found both Nora and Ren lying on the couch.

And they were both very naked.

For a moment no one said anything. Both parties just stared at each other, too shocked by what they were seeing to react. Nora recovered first, letting out a shriek and pulling back from Ren. Clearly, she was attempting to find something to cover herself but all it accomplished was Weiss getting a full view of Nora's...everything.

"Oh my god."

"What are you doing here?"

"Get out!"

"It was all Weiss's idea."

"Huh," Blake said, her head cocking to the side.

At that point, Weiss felt a hand on her back and she was pulled backwards out of the flat and into the hallway, all while Jaune shouted apologies before the door slammed shut.

"Okay we should go," Jaune said, red in the face. "And pretend this never happened."

"We're not leaving," Weiss said also blushing. "I still need help and I didn't learn anything useful, did you?"

"I learned Nora's a lucky girl," Blake said dryly. Both Jaune and Weiss just stared at her. "Oh come on. We've seen it all before."

"Not on-" The door flew open because Weiss could finish. "Nora!"

The very annoyed looking ginger stood in the doorway. You would think that being dressed in a huge pink fluffy dressing gown would diminish the intimidation factor. It did not.

Not saying a word, Nora pointed into the flat waiting and they all reluctantly obeyed, Jaune dragging his heels the most. Ren was sitting on the couch a towel covering his dignity but apart from that, he didn't seem that phased at all.

"Hey," Blake said.

"Sup."

Nora let out a huff, sitting down on the couch arms crossed. Weiss took one look at the furniture and decided for sanitary purposes to stand. Jaune seemed to have the same idea. It didn't look like anyone was willing to start, so Weiss decided to take the initiative.

"It's a lovely apartment you have here," she said smoothly. "The decor really adds to the ambiance."

There was a brief pause.

"Thank you," Ren replied. "So what brings you out here?"

"Really," Jaune said. "So we aren't going to talk about that?"

"Nora and I are dating. We have been for a month or so now."

"One month, one week and four days," Nora said before blushing. "Not that I'm counting or anything."

Ren nodded.

"It's hard to pinpoint it precisely. We've been together so long that the transition was quite natural." He paused. "If overdue."

Nora smiled, her normal demeanour returning for the first time since they had seen them... Weiss felt herself going red again. Still if it made them happy and meant they had one less complicated love situation in the group, this could only be a good thing.

"Well that's wonderful," she said, trying to keep her eyes off Ren's towel. "Now as to why we are here."

* * *

Ren was silent after she finished her explanation. Nora was also quiet but hey, Weiss hadn't come all this way to ask Nora's opinion on cooking. She also hadn't come all this way to see the two of them being intimate so if Nora could help it might be worth the visuals.

"I think I know your problem," Ren said finally. "Can I see your notebook?"

Weiss nodded, pulling it out of her bag and practically throwing it at Ren in anticipation. Annoyingly, he didn't seem eager to indulge her enthusiasm, turning the pages painfully slowly. In fact, he was so sloth like that even Nora seemed to lose patience. Or maybe she just wanted them to leave.

"Yes," he said finally. "You having been trying too hard to make this something Ruby would like."

"So I should make something she shouldn't like."

Well this was a bust. Ren clearly had no idea what he was talking about. She would be annoyed normally but after so much failure Weiss could only feel like a failure herself. It seemed like Ruby wouldn't even be getting a mediocre gift from her. This was the first birthday that Weiss would be a part of since leaving Atlas and the first one she would be doing herself. And she had blown it.

"That's not what I'm saying." Weiss looked up as Ren hopefully. "But if you had to come up with the perfect dessert for Ruby with all her favourite things, what would you make?"

Weiss didn't where he was going with this. Of course she didn't have answer to that question, that's why she was here. Annoyingly, Nora seemed way fasted on the uptake.

"Crescent Rose."

Damn that was obvious. Weiss let out a groan, slightly thankful that both Blake and Jaune seemed as bashful as she had that they hadn't got it either.

"So I'm screwed."

Ren shook her head.

"No you just need to stop trying to make another Crescent Rose. Make something that's unique to you and I guarantee that Ruby will like that."

That... kinda made sense actually. Weiss was silent, taking in the advice that Ren had given her and repeating it in her head. Make something unique to her. In a way it made a lot of sense but in practise...

She thought back to everyone else's desserts. Each one of them unique yet fitting to their creator. Whether it be extravagant or deceptively simple and hiding hidden depths, Weiss could see all her friends in their creations.

But the young heiress couldn't think of any way to put herself into the gift. That probably spoke to some deep seeded feelings of inadequacy or a failure to commit to people but unfortunately Weiss didn't have time to confront that.

Standing up, Weiss felt her mind become clear.

"Thank you for your help," she said. "I think I know what to do now."

Ren nodded and Nora smiled at her.

"Don't overthink Weiss. Just do what feels natural," Nora said. "Now can you three all leave."

Three red faces practically ran towards the door as Ren let out a sigh of exasperation. Still Weiss felt like this trip had been very much worth the embarrassment. If this worked out she would have to thank them properly.

A thought popped into had head just as the door began to close. Just in time, Weiss turned to shout into the room.

"And just for the record I said we should phone ahead."

* * *

"I can't believe I have to work on my birthday," Rubys muffled voice said for the third time. "Even slaves didn't have to do that."

"Slaves probably didn't have birthdays Ruby."

There was a short silence.

"Well if they did, they probably wouldn't have worked on them. Ugh it's freezing in here."

Weiss sighed as she continued her work. Rubys complaints were distracting even if they were warranted. Doing stock check in the walk in freezer was not a pleasant task. Weiss had only done it once or twice normally being able to weasel her way out of it. The general rule was who ever got in last in the morning had to do and side Weiss lived so close it worked to her advantage.

She did feel bad about Ruby having to do it on her birthday. Actually she felt really bad since it was entirely her fault that Ruby had to do it. She had finally managed to create something she was somewhat happy with to give too Ruby but since it didn't really last, she had to make it at work. The only way to do this secretly was if Ruby was in the freezer.

Somehow it hadn't been too hard to convince Yang to put her sister on the job. The blonde seemed to have finally accepted that her sister was leaving and her mood had returned too normal. So far she Weiss could tell anyway.

Now she seemed content to get the most out of her time with her sister. And if that meant torturing her a little in the freezer then she would do that too. Maybe it was torture for a reason and it was for Rubys benefit but Yang probably shouldn't have presented it as;

"Happy birthday, I got you a freezer to sort."

Now she was just in the waiting phase. Her gift was ready and Weiss was just hoping that Ruby would finish soon before she lost her nerve. This was stupid and everyone was stupid for letting her go along with her. Ruby would smile but Weiss would be able to tell.

It was only when she wiped the counter for the fifth time, did Ruby finally finish. Letting out a huff of discomfort, the birthday girl closed the door to the freezer and walked into the kitchen, hugging herself to gain warmth.

"Ugh that sucked," she muttered. "Can't believe Yang made me do that. I felt like I was wearing nothing since it was so cold..." Ruby trailer off. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I'm not staring," Weiss lied. "I just-" Ugh this was like her interview all over again. "Just sit down."

Ruby looked a little confused but thankfully she complied, plopping down on a stool and swinging her legs. Heading out of her field of vision, Weiss cleared her throat and picked up the sundae glass.

"Happy Birthday," she mumbled, her courage almost failing her. "I made you this."

Almost throwing it at her friend, Weiss barely found herself able to look Ruby in the eye. Her expression was one of shock but (maybe she was just delusional) but it didn't seem like bad shock.

"You made this?"

"I know it's stupid but no one told me it was your birthday and I didn't want to get you something impersonal." Oh dust she was rambling. "Then Jaune said to make you something and I know he's an idiot but I was desperate and I just thought you might-" Ruby picked up her spoon and took a bite. "Like it..."

With bated breath, Weiss watched as Ruby tasted the dessert before starting to feel self-conscious. Turning her attention away, Weiss stared at the ground and waited. Ruby was probably trying to think of a way to let her down gent- And she's finished it.

Mouth slightly open, Weiss found herself speechless. Ruby, to her credit had the dignity to look bashful.

"What?" She said. "It was really good..."

Awe turned to suspicion and she felt her eyes narrow.

"What parts of it?"

Anyone else would have laughed, but Ruby merely paused. Hand on chin like she was pondering some great philosophy, Ruby sat in silence mentally revaluating Weiss's present.

"I liked the White chocolate ice cream," She said finally. "And the different fruit sauces down the edges made it look awesome. I loved it all, it was so-"

Ruby cut herself off, her face going red. She was probably embarrassed by her enthusiasm but Weiss found herself curious.

"So what?"

"So... you."

"I- thank you."

Neither said anything. Weiss found herself unable to form a response. At best she thought that Ruby would enjoy her dessert but she hadn't thought once that she would get this reaction.

"Well I'm glad you liked it," she said, trying to appear casual. "We should probably get back to work."

Ruby grinned.

"Yeah sure thing. We want to finish on time so we can head to Ren and Nora's."

Weiss glared at her.

"That's supposed to be a secret."

Her friend just shrugged.

"We only ever go to one place when we want to have a party. Plus, I heard Yang telling dad last night." Weiss shook her head making a mental note to scold Yang later before Ruby spoke again. "So... Can you make me another one?"


	21. Chapter 21

"Surpri- oh it's just Weiss."

The platinum haired girl scowled at Nora's words trying not to be too irrationally offended. Obviously they were all waiting for Ruby to arrive but was it too much to ask for a slightly nicer greeting than disappointment?

Nora let her pass into the apartment, closing the door behind them. The layout had changed somewhat since her last visit though it was probably just in preparation for hosting the party. The couch had been pushed back a little allowing for more chairs to surround the small table everyone else was huddled around. It seemed she was the last to arrive, apart from the two sisters themselves.

From what Yang had told her at work, the two sisters were having dinner with their father at one of Rubys favourite restaurant. After that, Yang would make an excuse about needing to pick up something from Nora and she would lead her sister up to the party to surprise her. A good plan in theory and Yang had been rather pleased with herself so Weiss had elected not to tell her that Ruby was very aware she was getting a surprise party.

"Hello," Pyrrha greeted cheerfully. "You dress looks lovely."

Weiss smiled at the compliment. Truth be told she wasn't sure how she felt about the dress. After she had spent more than she cared to admit perfecting the recipe for Rubys present, she didn't have a huge amount to spend elsewhere. Winter had pointed her in the direction of a second hand store she often shopped in.

The result was this blue dress that grew lighter in colour as it travelled down the skirt. A dark navy jacket that covered her sleeves, which she would probably regret once it started getting hit but overall she had liked it at the time, reminding Weiss of one her old formal ball gowns. It was this reminder of her old life that made her slightly uneasy.

"Thank you," she replied, pleased that she at least looked good. "You look great too."

Pyrrha blushed slightly, as though not aware of just how attractive she currently looked. A slightly longer red dress that was probably slightly too formal for going out but stunning none the less. Before she could respond however, Nora bounded in front of her, also looking rather attractive in her pink dress.

"Hey Weiss, wanna see something awesome?"

Nora didn't wait for a reply, yanking Weiss by her wrist towards their kitchen. Barely managing to keep her balance, she managed to steady herself just as Nora let her go and pulled open the fridge. Grumbling she turned to the grinning ginger.

"Nora must you always be so he- oh dust."

Paling slightly, Weiss found herself staring at a fridge that was entirely lacking in food of any kind. There was not a single vegetable, piece of meat, pint of milk or even a slice of cheese.

Instead every shelf was stacked with bottles of alcohol. Beer, cider, wine and spirits as well as two rows of jelly shots. This was enough drink for a party of thirty, not the ten that was coming.

"Well what do you think?" Nora asked eagerly. "Pretty great isn't it."

It still took Weiss a moment to respond.

"This seems rather excessive," she said. "And that's putting it mildly."

"Yeah, it's going to be awesome," Nora half yelled, making Weiss wonder if she had started already. "We are going to make Rubys birthday a night not to remember."

There are moments in your life when you just have to stop, take stock of your surroundings and make sure you don't make a horrible mistake. Apparently today was not one of those days.

Deciding to just go with it, Weiss sighed and picked up a plastic cup. Who knows, maybe this would be what she needed to break the stagnation that she and Neptune had fallen into. Glancing over to the main group, she immediately picked out his bright blue hair chatting beside Blake and Sun. With a small smile she started to pour herself a drink. Nothing ventured after all.

* * *

"Surprise!"

This time Nora's shouts were joined by the rest of the group (though Nora was still loudest of all). To Rubys credit her squeal of surprised excitement sounded genuine, not wanting everyone's efforts to seem in vain. She was just nice like that.

The group surged forward to meet the young brunette to wish her well. Weiss hung back electing to let others have a chance. The two of them had been working all day together after all. She could wait a little longer and she didn't even have a gift to give anymore.

Yang joined her, dressed more casually than Weiss was, though pulling it off very well. Her hair was as voluminous as ever hanging down past her waist to meet a short skirt and long black stockings. Her cream coloured top highlighted well against long black sleeves with gold cuffs. She looked brilliant, a fact she was patently aware of.

"Like what you see princess," she said with a wink. "Better be quick if you want in on this, I plan to be doing more than turning heads tonight."

"Do you ever not plan to do that?"

Yang remained unabashed.

"Can't know what's good if you don't sample the buffet."

"Thank you so much for that mental image," Weiss said, trying to hide her amusement. "How was your dinner?"

"Pretty good. Dad got Ruby her first drink." Weiss gave her a look and Yang quickly amended her statement. "Her first legal drink. I think Ruby got a bit over excited about the whole thing. She's ended up getting a different cocktail with ever course."

"So she's drunk already?"

"No she's just-"

"Oh my god, it's a giant gummi bear!"

Yang sighed.

"Yeah she kinda is." She brightened again. "But hey, I don't even remember my eighteenth and I still had fun... probably."

"Well if Nora has her way, none of us will even survive tonight."

"And that means it's going to be a good night." Yang slapped her on the back. "Now where's the beer?"

* * *

"So here's what we're going to do," Nora announced to the room. "I call this the Tipsy Tower."

Weiss rolled her eyes at the girls over dramatic tone. Everyone was gathered around the table, a jenga tower set up on top of it. She was pretty sure Nora had not invented this game.

"Love the name," Yang said. "Inspired choice."

Nora gave her the thumbs up before continuing the explanation.

"On each of the pieces is a challenge or task you must complete or face the forfeit flagon." Nora pointed to an empty glass. "Can everyone please add a little of what they are drinking to the forfeit flagon."

There was some slight shuffling and some spillages as they complied with the task. By the time it came to Weiss, there was barely room for her to add her own vodka and lemonade. Making a mental note to avoid the glass at all costs (that seemed to contain some sediment from someone's drink), Weiss passed it along.

"And finally," Nora said. "If you knock over the tower, you must complete your task and drink the forfeit flagon. Any questions?"

"It's drink jenga Nora," Blake said dryly. "We've all played before."

Nora took the ribbing in stride without missing a beat.

"Well if you are so well versed, perhaps you should go first Belladonna?"

Blake seemed to regret her comments but with little more than a sigh she reached out and effortlessly pulled out a piece. The group watched in baited breath, wondering just what sort of Grimm game that Nora had planned for her.

"Shot D6," Blake read out clearly. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"D6?" Weiss asked confused.

"Six-sided dice."

"There are dice with more than six sides?"

"Obviously," Blake replied. "You get D4s, D8s, D20s."

"You are such a dork," Sun said while Blake just glared at him. "Uhh I mean... No I'm sticking with dork."

Choosing to ignore her boyfriend, Blake took the dice from Nora and rolled if across the table. Weiss watched it roll, slightly amused by the way all the eyes in the room followed it, before the dice landed face up showing a three.

"Well that's not worst it could have been," Jaune said. "We just shotting the jelly ones?"

"Blake is," Nora said, handing her a tray of rainbow coloured shots. "Some of the others are stronger."

Downing the three shots without so much as a grimace, Blake wiped her mouth before turning back to Nora.

"So I get to pick who's next?" Nora nodded and Blake turned to Sun with a grin. "About that dork comment."

"One day I'll learn to shut up," Sun grumbled taking his turn. "Rhyme. I can deal with that. Let's start with clock."

There was mix of laughter and groans as everyone already knew where this rhyme was going.

"Mock," said Neptune.

"Crock," said Jaune and there was a pause. "That totally counts."

Then it was Pyrrhas turn. There was no groans now only light laugher and Weiss couldn't help but smirk as Pyrrha went beat red, desperately trying to think of any other word than the one in her head.

"I um-"

"Gonna have to press you P-money," Nora said. "If you can't that a drink for every word that's been said."

Pyrrha didn't bother with any pretence, taking three large swigs of her drink. Anything to move on.

"Couldn't think of anything Pyrrha," Yang asked with a grin. "That's quite a shock."

Pyrrha groaned.

"So next up..." Sun mused. "How about the birthday girl?"

Ruby grinned, eager to take part. Practically bounding to her feet she froze as the tower shook a little. After it didn't fall, she continued though slightly more restrained. Then she blushed.

"Kiss D6 right."

There was another round of laughter and Weiss noticed a slight look of relief on Yang's face. Obvious she was happy to have sat on her sisters left hand side and was out of the range of this challenge. As was Weiss as it happened.

There was the clatter of dice and the number five faced high. There was another pause as everyone quickly tried to do the math and who it was Ruby could be kissing. Nora worked it out first, jumping to her feet and bounding round.

"Happy birthday," she said and any protest Ruby might have made was cut off by Nora's lips on her own. It was only a quick peck but Ruby was still as red as her namesake barely managing to squeak out who was going next.

"Weiss."

Slightly more nervous than she would ever admit, Weiss tried to steady her hand as she took a piece. Turning it over, she furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Three black shots?"

There was a loud clunk as Nora slammed a bottle on the table in front of her. Absinthe. Well that was just wonderful.

Not wanting to appear weak, she kept her face completely passive right up until the moment the liquid touched her tongue and the awful taste hit her. Resisting the urge to spit it out, Weiss forced herself to swallow. By the time she managed to finish the third, she wanted to throw up already and it was only the first round. Judging from the giggles, she wasn't getting much sympathy.

"Nora," she said, wanting to share the misery. "Would you kindly?"

* * *

"Never have I ever," Yang said with a sigh. "That's what you want in a game with your sister."

"You could save us both and drink the glass?"

"Flagon," Nora corrected.

Yang elected not to drink the forfeit, which seemed like a wise choice to Weiss. It would be a simple matter for Yang to just pick a question that wouldn't embarrass either of them.

"Never have I ever," Yang said with a grin. "Had a crush on a fictional character."

"Yang!" Ruby protested. "Come on."

"Sorry sis, couldn't resist."

"Does Blake have to drink for every character," Sun asked before Blake smacked him. "Ow, babe I'm trying to make sure you don't drink on more than you have to."

"Not sure if we have enough alcohol for all her character crushes," Yang added. "Can we narrow it down to one series?"

Blake tried and failed to remain stern, her glare faltering in her slightly tipsy state.

"I hate both of you," she said before turning to Ruby. "Your sister sucks."

"I know."

Both girls took a drink and Weiss was wondering who it was that Ruby had once adored. Maybe she still did. Perhaps she would lie awake at night rereading passages before falling asleep, book still in hand, and dream about them...

It occurred to Weiss that this was rather a peculiar train of though. Not to mention a slightly invasive one. This combination of drinks was clearly getting to her. Nothing really to worry about. It was unlikely that she would ever go from jelly shot, absinthe then wine in such quick succession again.

Well probably not till the next party Nora threw.

* * *

It had been a few more rounds and the effects were already starting to show. Weiss's head was feeling a little woozy, having only drawn many of Nora's shot pieces. She hasn't even been lucky enough to draw the same shots, meaning that she had been forced to drink tequila, vodka, jelly shots and something that Nora wouldn't even tell her.

Everyone else was faring to different degrees. Pyrrha was probably the worst, the group having quickly taken advantage of her slightly prudish nature to ensure she lost any of the group games.

Ruby was also suffering, being the birthday girl. She was taking it fairly well with Yang taking bullets here and there but the effects of the games were starting to take its toll.

Sun was shirtless, though Weiss couldn't actually remember him being told to take it off. Blake still seemed cool enough but was started to get a little clingy. Just a little but enough to make Neptune (sitting between them) regret his seating choice.

Yang was pretty much fine, a combination of a well-practised tolerance and lucky draws. Ren and Nora were in similar states, with the latterly volume varying wildly between audible and excessively loud.

And then there was Jaune...

"Really?" Jaune said, looking down at the piece he had just pulled. "How many of these kiss pieces did you put in here Nora?"

"Enough to go around," she replied. "Though obviously not when you are drawing all of them."

"It's pure chance."

"Sure it is lover boy," Yang said with a smirk. "All these fine ladies here's can't blame you for taking advantage. Could be worse."

Jaune sighed, rolling his eyes and the dice at the same time. The number rolled up and the accustomed pause as they all worked out who was receiving the pleasure of Jaune Arc. There was a pause as all eyes turned to Pyrrha who had gone redder than she had been all night.

Dust it was awkward now. Yang, Ren and even Blake had dealt with Jaune without much more than some slight good natured ribbing. Sun had joked about trading Blake full time but now the room was deathly quiet.

Weiss felt terrible for her. She might not understand Pyrrhas affections for Jaune but nobody deserved this. To have something you want dangled in front of you but to know that it was false and hollow. Worst of all to have an audience to the process as well.

Jaune to his credit, seemed to have picked up on her discomfort already. A sense of intuition that she frankly didn't think he had. He didn't know why but even he could see that she didn't want this.

"Well... ahh." He scratched his neck. "You oka-"

Pyrrha seemed to jump at his words, her knee slamming into the table and sending the tower toppling over. The crashing seemed to last an eternity to Weiss, each brick echoing in the painful silence. Then Nora laughed nervously.

"Whelp I guess the games over then. Drink up Pyrrha."

The red head and blonde stared at Nora's for a second before their eyes flickered to each other and then quickly, anywhere else. It seemed that Nora was trying to give her friend and out for this situation that she had unintentionally landed her in but Pyrrha seemed too out of it to notice.

"Drink?"

"Yup," Yang said, catching on. "So you would rather drink that glass than kiss Jaune... I can see that."

"Hey I'm sure that's not-"

Jaune didn't get time to finish as Pyrrha grabbed the glass of everyone's drinks and started to glug it down as fast as she could. Weiss could only watch in slightly awe as the rather thick liquid vanished into Pyrrha before she shuddered and turned slightly glassy eyed.

"Uhh Pyrrha," Ruby asked slowly. "You okay?"

She didn't reply looking more than a little pale.

"Maybe we shouldn't play another round," Weiss offered. "I think Pyrrha might need a minute... or several."

The agreement was unanimous.

* * *

With the current game over, the party quietened down a little. The main group split off a little giving Weiss some time to spend with Neptune. Things were going more smoothly than last time but despite her best efforts, she was unable to get any alone time with him. It was like Sun and Blake were deliberately trying to run interference on them.

Or perhaps Sun just really liked to talk.

"So that's when the guards saw us."

Sun was still shirtless and Weiss was now convinced it had been nothing to do with the game.

"They weren't guards," Blake said. "You don't get guards at a boat party. They were just bouncers."

"Eh," Neptune said. "Story's better with guards."

"But if it was just a boat party," Weiss asked. "If there were a lot of guests, why did you stand out?"

There was a moment of silence as Suns tail flicked around his side and passed a bottle this hand.

"Oh right... Sorry."

"Don't be," Blake said with a smirk. "Honestly, it's good it didn't even occur to you."

"Thanks."

"Anyway," Sun said slightly too loudly. "We ended up having to bail before the ship left harbour but Blake dropped the anchor so I count it as a win for us."

Weiss almost spat out her drink.

"You dropped the anchor!" she coughed. "How did you even do that?"

Blake just shrugged.

"You can't shrug that off."

Blake shrugged and Weiss sighed turning to Sun.

"How do you stand her aloofness."

Sun shrugged.

"Stop that."

He grinned.

"Aloof is sexy."

Blake gave her boyfriend a small kiss on the cheek and Weiss just rolled her eyes. Blake always got like this after drinking. Still now they were distracted by each other, it would give her time to finally talk to Neptune.

"Weeeeiisss!"

Or not. Sighing she turned to the direction of Rubys cry. The birthday girl, more than a little drunk bounded up to Weiss from the other side of the couch. Dropping down onto her knees she peeked over the side of the couch. Mouth covered her grin was still very evident through her twinkling eyes.

"Hi."

Any thoughts of annoyance vanished at the ridiculousness of the situation.

"Yes Ruby?"

"Wanna play beer pong?"

"I'm sort of talking to Neptune." Rubys face fell. "Maybe later?"

"I need a partner," Ruby whined. "I've never played before and I need a partner." Her eyes widened. "And it's my birthday."

"But I-"

"My birthday Weiss."

Ruby pouted at her.

"Ugh fine," Weiss said with faux annoyance. "But we had better not lose."

Squealing with glee Ruby jumped back to her feet and ran back over to the kitchen table. Already regretting her decision, Weiss gave a quick apology to Neptune, Sun and Blake and followed Ruby over.

Her apprehension only increased when she saw her opponents. Yang and Nora stood smirking on the other side of the table.

"This the best you could eh sis," Yang teased. "Should have gotten Blake. I once lost to her in five balls. Don't ask me how."

Weiss stared at the six cups on either side.

"That doesn't seem physically possible."

"That's what I said."

Shaking her head at what had to be Yang's exaggeration... probably, Weiss found herself frowning at the contents of the cup.

"I thought this was 'beer' pong."

Nora answered her, grinning manically.

"Spirit Pong is better."

"It does seem like it could be bad," Ruby said, looking a little less enthusiastic. They had already all drank a lot.

"Spirits can be rather haunting," Yang said with a rather proud grin. "Just win and you'll be fine."

"Oh is that all?" Weiss retorted. "Who's going first anyway?"

There was a splash and both Ruby and Weiss stared down to see a ball floating in one of their cups. Weiss suddenly became very interested in her finger nails.

"That one's yours."

Ruby just looked at her before fishing out the ball and knocking back the drink in one gulp. Her face scrunched up in displeasure before she was able to swallow.

"Yang why do you drink this stuff so much," she complained. "The strawberry stuff Ren got me is way better."

"It's also about a quarter as strong."

"But five times as delicious. That makes it better."

Weiss sighed. If this was what the group was like only a few hours into the party, she shuddered to think what they would be like by the end. However, there was nothing she could really do to stop it, even if she cared to. Instead she was just going to enjoy tonight because she knew from experience, she wouldn't enjoy tomorrow.

Giving her partner some room, Weiss watched as Ruby tilted we body, closed one eyes, carefully took aim, pulled back her arm and let loose with well-honed precision.

Then she watched as the ball sailed clean over the table, missing completely. That was funny enough by itself but sad look on Rubys face was too much and Weiss let out a snort of laughter.

"Weiss!"

"Sorry sorry," she said trying to keep a straight face. "You just looked so committed."

"I was committed," she huffed. "But clearly you aren't committed to this team."

Huffing, Weiss didn't have time to respond as once again, the ping pong ball flew back to their side of the table and landed in one of the cups. Nora let out a whoop of joy, throwing her arms up in celebration as Yang just grinned beside her.

"So are you two planning to actually score?" she said. "I mean I like winning, but I'm also getting kinda thirsty."

"When aren't you?"

Weiss muttered a curse under her breath, before fishing out the ball and drinking the cup. Scowling she tasted the familiar burn of vodka in the back of her throat. Resisting the urge to cough, she lined up her shot.

"When aren't you thirsty?" she said as the ball left her hand.

Swish. Splash.

Ruby let out a squeal, clapping her hands at Weiss's accuracy. Then she realised what Weiss had said and her face contorted in disgust.

"Weiss..."

Yang however didn't seem to insulted and just let out a laugh.

"Ooh Ice queens got burns," Yang said, taking the drink without blinking. "And I can neither confirm nor deny."

"Factually ambiguous burns are the best burns," Nora said, completely unperturbed by it going totally wild. "Your go Ruby."

Rubys aim improved landing her next shot and evening the score. Yang however seemed incapable of missing and for some reason all her shots seemed to land on Weiss's side of the table. Probably avoiding getting her sister drunk... well drunker. It was her eighteenth after all.

"Yang," Ruby said. "When are we going to Juniors?"

"Juniors?" Weiss asked.

"We're going to Juniors?" Nora shouted, alerting everyone else as Yang just sighed. "No one told me that."

Yang didn't even bother waiting for a ball this time, just taking a cup and slamming it.

"I didn't tell anyone that," Yang muttered. "I was kinda hoping Ruby would forget and I wouldn't have to take my baby sister to the seediest club in Vale."

Oh one of those clubs. The ones that Mercury had liked taking her too. A place where the drinks were cheap, the floors sticky and the attire was skirts short enough to make even Weiss turn her head. Emerald had liked it too but thankfully Cinder had hated it. That meant they had rarely went.

"I thought you said it was the best club in Vale."

"It's also that," Yang admitted. "But not somewhere I'd like to take you."

"But Yang," Ruby whined. "You promised."

Weiss couldn't help but smirk watching as Yang tried to remember making such a ludicrous promise.

"I don't think I did."

"Yes you did." She lowered her voice slightly. "The day after your 18th..."

"I don't even remember that day."

The rest of the party had wandered over, some interested in the game but mostly interested in the talk of Juniors. It seemed this place had quite a legacy and Weiss couldn't help be curious.

"It does sound like something you would say," Nora added, very unhelpfully for Yang.

"Thank you Nora."

"And your probably only promised because you were drunk."

"Thank you Nora." Yang groaned. "Ruby do you really want to go?"

Rubys head nearly came off from nodding.

"It could be fun," Pyrrha said making everyone turn. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Yang looked around quickly, hoping for any signs of back up. That there would be someone else to the responsible adult so that Yang wouldn't have to try. But considering that the only actual responsible one among them, was barely able to stand, it looked like she was out voted.

"Ugh fine, I'll phone us a taxi," she muttered and Weiss heard Ruby squeal again. "But if anyone makes a move on you-"

"Yang!"

* * *

Half an hour later and Yang was paying for the taxis. Regretting her choice in heels, Weiss almost immediately found herself flat on her face, if not for the quick reflexes of Blake. Making a face between gratitude and I could have totally handled it, Weiss couldn't help but wish that she had waited until Neptune had gotten out. Now she had just looked stupid in front of him instead of getting an opportunity for a romantic (cheesecloth romance admittedly).

Ruby was still somehow managing to keep up her energy, probably feeding off Nora's own boundless energy and feeding Nora in return. The excited ginger had linked Ren's arm to her left and Ruby to her right and was talking rather loudly about how they could find someone to make a real woman out of Ruby. This was having the double effect of flustering Ruby and making Yang really regret coming here.

"Weiss do me a favour," she muttered. "If any guy even so much as looks at Ruby, give me a shout."

"You're being ridiculous," Weiss said, before deciding to tease her friend a little. "In a fine establishment such as this, you really think Ruby could meet someone unscrupulous?"

Yang did not seem amused.

"I regret everything."

"Ruby will only be able to get ahead," Weiss said, with careful enunciation. "Once you let her leave the nest."

"Shut up," Yang groaned. "I do not want to think about that ever."

"Yang take it from someone who has had suffer controlling family-"

"I'm not controlling her."

"I know," Weiss reassured her. "But even if it feels like it, she'll pull away even harder and then if she does find someone bad for her, she won't let you help her."

Yang looked like she wanted to protest further but seemed to understand what Weiss was saying. Being protective was a good thing but it was hard to appreciate it sometimes. Especially when you didn't see the problem yourself. It would be hard for Yang to let go of her natural instincts but she wouldn't be there once Ruby went to art school, the elder sister wouldn't be there.

"Is that what happened with you?" Yang asked quietly. "I mean with your old friends."

Weiss felt herself stiffen.

"They weren't my friends," she replied softly before forcing a more business-like tone. "But essentially yes. I didn't have an older sister, Winter was already gone, but I had an actual friend trying to protect me and I hurt her for it."

"Thanks Weiss," Yang said and for a moment there was silence between the two. "Damn I really need another drink after all that."

Weiss couldn't help but agree however that line in front of them meant that even Pyrrha would have sobered up by the time they reached the front. Well maybe not, right now she seemed rather entranced by her own ponytail.

Yang however seemed to be ignoring the line completely. Practically swaggering past the queue of annoyed patrons and ignoring their shouts as well as the confused looks on her friends face. The bouncer looked up, clearly wondering what the commotion was until he noticed Yang.

"Guess who's back," Yang shouted, stopping in front of the exasperated man. "And with friends."

"Blondie," he sighed. "You're not planning any trouble tonight are you?"

"They know her," Weiss asked Blake quietly who just smiled.

"Does that really shock you?"

"Trouble? Me?" Yang said with mock indignation. "Junior, I thought we were friends. How can you say such thing?"

"Well you've already pissed off half the line." He glanced over the group, frowning when he saw Ruby. "Isn't she a little young to be here?"

"Aren't you a little old to be repeating that tired line," Yang countered playfully. "Seriously you've been saying that since I started coming."

"I am being serious," he said firmly. "No underagers. Not worth the trouble."

"Oh Junior why are you being so difficult?"

Blake rolled her eyes pulling Ruby to the front and ignoring Yang's grin.

"Or you could not be difficult," she said without much annoyance. "She turned eighteen today. She's got ID."

Junior shot Yang an aggregated look that she returned with a smirk. Ruby fumbled slightly with her purse (a combination of nerves and alcohol no doubt) before passing her ID over to the club's owner. He gave it a once over, glancing at Ruby a few times before passing back the ID and letting them pass.

"Seriously Blondie," he said. "No trouble tonight."

"Sure thing," Yang said with a salute. "Tell the twins I said hi."

"Tell them yourself. They're both here tonight."

Yang's face smile became rather fixed.

* * *

The club was just like she imagined it would be. Flashing lights, overly loud music, filled to the brim with obnoxious people spilling drinks and knocking into other groups. Weiss couldn't help but feel like she was four seconds from being in a brawl at every step. Some clubs could be rather good, if you had the right people with you, but this place would be terrible with anyone. Even all her friends being here wouldn't save it.

Yeah. She hadn't missed this.

"This is awesome."

And of course Ruby would be liking it. Even her predisposition for avoiding crowds seemed to be forgotten, too wrapped up in her own excitement (and more than a little liquid courage). It was endearing in its own way and never ceased to amaze her.

"I mean," Ruby amended, struggling to be heard over the loud music. "Apart from the smell."

"That's the fragrance of a party," Sun shouted back.

"It smells like people..."

Weiss grimaced. Yeah it really did smell like that.

"Try being a Faunus," Blake said with equal disgust. "After a few drinks, it gets better... or tolerable."

"Speaking of," Neptune said gesturing to a waitress passing by with a tray of shots. "Shall we?"

"You buying?" Sun said. "That's pretty sweet of you."

The blue haired boy tried to backtrack almost immediately.

"What I didn't-"

"Thanks so much Nep," Blake said with a wry smirk. "We all appreciate it."

Weiss's smiled too though hers was not quite as sarcastic.

"I know I do."

Neptune laughed, shaking his head in surrender.

"Two of each," he said to the waitress pulling out his wallet. "Whatever strongest?"

And that was were Weiss's memory stopped.


	22. Chapter 22

Hangovers had always been sort of delayed for Weiss. Whenever she had used to drink back in Atlas, it would take ten to maybe twenty minutes before it would start to hit her. It gave her some time to prepare, meaning she normally had time to untangle herself from Mercury and mitigate the pain somewhat. It was a useful talent to have.

So, when Weiss awoke, her head ringing, mouth dry and the urge to vomit immediately, she knew that last night must have gone poorly. The second clue was that she hadn't woken up on a bed. Nor had she woken up on a couch. Hell, she hadn't even woken up on a carpet. She was currently lying face down on a tiled bathroom floor, her head thankfully resting on a rolled-up towel, acting as a pillow.

And the final clue that she had drank far too much last night. Weiss couldn't remember a single thing past entering the club and ordering shots... That had probably been the problem.

That and the volumes of other spirits she had partaken in at the flat. Damn it Nora.

Letting out a very un-Schnee like groan, Weiss managed to pull herself to her feet. Pausing for a moment as her body decided whether it would tolerate that movement, Weiss looked around.

It appeared to be Ren and Nora's bathroom as she vaguely recognised it from the night before. That was something at least, since it meant she hadn't passed out on the floor of someone else's bathroom. Plus, Ren's adherence to all things orderly meant that the floor was far cleaner than some she could have awoken on.

Her stomach had decided to get a hold of itself but still Weiss wasn't eager to test that with movement. Another thirty seconds just to be sure and then she could go deal with her pounding headache and the consequences of whatever had happened last night.

At least she still had all her clothes on. That was a plus at least.

Then she heard a shuffle coming from the bath. Curious, she walked over to the ceramic tub and pulled back the shower curtain. There snoring on the bottom was Pyrrha.

All in all, for someone who had passed out in a bathtub, she looked relativity okay. Her hair was a mess, half out of its usual pony tail, her makeup was smudged and her red dress was currently pushed up enough to make Weiss blush and then focus entirely on her face.

But she wasn't covered in vomit or any other fluids so there was that.

"Pyrrha," Weiss said trying to wake her. When she got no response, she tried again, this time a little louder accompanied by shaking her shoulder a little. "Pyrrha."

Still there was no response and in her current hungover state, Weiss quickly lost patience. She couldn't just leave her in the bathtub though. Groaning from annoyance and the pain in her head, Weiss unhooked the nozzle.

"Last chance," she said dryly.

Unfortunately for Pyrrha, she was about to not be.

Firing a small burst of no doubt very cold water, Weiss couldn't help but smirk as Pyrrha awoke with a yelp of shock followed by a sharp wince of pain.

"What? I- Weiss?"

"Good morning," she said replied before realising. "I think."

"Yes err good morning, though I can't say it particularly feels like it." Pyrrha pinched the bridge of her nose no doubt feeling even worse than Weiss did. "Do you happen to know why I'm in Nora's bathtub? And why am I wet?"

"You wouldn't wake up and I didn't want to leave you in a bathtub."

"I don't think I follow your logic."

Weiss just shrugged.

"It worked, didn't it?"

"I suppose so."

Pyrrha trailed off though Weiss had a sneaking suspicion that she just didn't trust herself not to throw up. Not that Weiss blamed her, she felt just as bad herself. Judging by the smell of the room, one of them already had.

"Do you remember much of last night," Weiss asked. "My memory is slightly... hazy."

Pyrrha chuckled and Weiss felt it was ridiculous that she was being laughed at by a girl who could pull herself out of the bath tub.

"No I'm not surprised. The beginning is gone for me but I remember the ending. Oh, god," Pyrrha said going pale. "Jaune had to look after me all night. I made such a fool of myself."

Weiss agreed.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," she lied. "What do you remember?"

The red head paused for a second.

"Flashes throughout the night but the first solid memory is us arriving back here."

* * *

"Easy there Pyrrha," Jaune said getting out of the taxi. "Uh, you need a hand?"

His caution was well placed as Pyrrha soon found herself stumbling out of the car and into Jaune arms. Thanks to Jaune looking after her for most of the night, she had started to sober up just a little. Unfortunately, the effects of the drinking games meant she still wasn't quite able to function as normal.

Her words still came out, inelegant and slurred. She still tripped and stumbled instead of walking. She just didn't have the mercy of not being aware of what a fool she was acting. Obliviousness was not a luxury she was being allowed.

"I'm sorry," she said, into Jaunes chest. "I've been such a mess all night and you've had to waste your night to make sure I didn't do anything stupid. I'm sorry, I just wish- I'm sorry."

Jaune laughed helping her stand and holding onto her shoulder to make sure she was balanced. It was appreciated, she only wished it wasn't under these circumstances.

"It's okay."

"It's not, I'm sorry."

"Its fine Pyrrha really," Jaune said. "You've helped me out way more times than this."

"Like that time you stopped him being beat up by the guy whose girlfriend he had just hit on," Sun said coming into view. "Twice."

"Or the time you covered three of his shifts in a row because he forgot to get time off for the Arc family vacation," Blake added. "Twice."

Jaune tried to glare at them but the couple were in far too good a mood to care. In fact, they didn't even seem to be paying attention to them. They were drunk as well (obviously) but were taking it far better than Pyrrha was. Though everyone was really.

Ren and Nora were leading the way, it being their flat after all. Nora had already said in the taxi that her room was available for sleeping since she pretty much shared a bed with Ren every night now. Apparently sometimes they even got some sleep too.

Ruby and Weiss were trailing behind them, Ruby enthusiastically telling Weiss a story that Pyrrha couldn't quite hear the details of. Whatever it was, Weiss was amused, giggling loudly in a manner most unrefined for her. It was nice to see her relax a little more. Perhaps this night had been what all of them had needed.

Her stomach chose that moment to disagree with that assessment and Pyrrha suddenly had a feeling that she was about to have decidedly less in her system. Groaning she clung to Jaune to support as they got in the lift but the rapid elevation did little to make her feel better.

Nora barely managed to open the door before Pyrrha pushed past and ran for the bathroom. Opening the door, she fell to her knees at the basin, opening the lid and vomiting into the bowl.

For a few minutes that's all she could focus on as her body rid itself of the poison. However, when it seemed to have finished for the time being, Pyrrha suddenly became aware of someone holding back her hair.

"I locked the door," Weiss said. "This didn't seem like something that needed to be shared."

Grateful for her spared dignity, Pyrrha opened her mouth to thank her, only for a fresh batch of nausea to hit her and Weiss let out a groan of disgust as Pyrrha was forced to turn back to the bowl. This might turn out to be a long night.

* * *

"Well that explains how we got here." Weiss paused. "And the smell... It also doesn't sound like I did anything too bad either."

"I wish I could say the same."

Yeah Pyrrha probably would have to live with jokes about this night for a while.

"I'm sure it's fine," she lied. "No one was in a position last night to make fun of anyone else."

Pyrrha forced a smile that seemed slightly forced.

"I appreciate you saying that," she said. "Now if you don't mind, I think I'm going to try and shower."

Try?

"Okay I'll leave you to it."

"Do you think you could ask Nora to bring my bag through."

"You just don't want to face anyone?"

"...I would rather delay it as long as possible, if I can."

Agreeing to the request, Weiss nodded and headed towards the door. It was locked, probably the reason they hadn't been disturbed before now. As she reached for the door, Weiss realised she looked terrible. Nothing that she could really do about it though so she figured it was her taking the dignity bullet instead of Pyrrha.

"Weiss," Ruby said immediately, her voice elated. "You're okay."

She was sitting at the kitchen bunker with Jaune, Ren and Nora. They were talking around various mugs Jaune and Ren and glasses for the girls. There was coffee in a pot but she knew Ruby didn't like it normally and Nora wasn't allowed. Those two were simply drinking milk.

Everyone was dressed in clothes made for comfort not for style. Well, Ren wasn't that bad wearing what looked green silk pyjamas. Presumably it was a knock off at most. Jaune was wearing sweats and a black hoodie with a rabbit in it (Weiss didn't even bother to ask). Nora was wearing pink boy short pyjama bottoms and white tank top. And of course, Ruby was wearing a red hoodie, as though trying to hide herself from the light of day.

Her eyes drifted across the empty chairs and it occurred to Weiss that Pyrrha hadn't mentioned Yang or Neptune in her story. Yang probably had gone home with someone else but where was Neptune. Part of her could vaguely remember talking to him outside the club. Suddenly she felt slightly nauseous again.

"You appear to have seen better days," Ren said as she walked over. She glared at him. "It was just an observation."

Scowling she took a seat and reached for the coffee pot.

"Your observation is noted. Nora, do you mind getting Pyrrha her bag. She said you knew where it was."

Nora nodded jumping to her feet with a little less energy than usual. It just seemed to be a sign of the night before though.

"Sure thing, then you are going to spill about last night."

Weiss blinked as Nora headed towards her room, exiting quickly with Pyrrhas bag on her shoulder. Once again she tried to remember the night before with little success.

"To be honest I don't really remember much... Or anything really."

"Nothing," Ruby asked softly, her smile fading slightly. "Nothing at all."

"No," Weiss admitted, suddenly feeling rather nervous. "Oh god did I do something?"

"You really don't remember..."

"Jeez Ruby, she wasn't that bad," Nora said flopping back down. "Well no worse than anyone else."

"Speaking of," Jaune said. "How was Pyrrha?"

The sound of a shower being turned on creeped out from under the door of the bathroom as Jaune spoke. Weiss didn't miss the way his eyes moved towards the door.

"She's fine," Weiss said dismissively. "Just paying for last night but she'll recover. Now what did I do last night?"

The others looked at each other as Weiss took a sip of her coffee. Already she felt a little better but unfortunately it did not trigger any sudden revelations about the night before.

"To be honest, you were that crazy," Jaune said. "You were just kinda..."

"Yeah nothing embarrassing," Ren said. "Just..."

"You were awesome," Nora practically shouted, causing everyone, including her, to wince. "Sorry."

* * *

Everyone winced as they finished the shots and Nora felt herself her face squish up in disgust. Nora was fine with drinking but shots were things other people were meant to drink do they would be funny. These just tasted awful.

"So..." Ruby said. "What do we do now?"

Oh, right, this was Rubys first time in a club. Still so young and innocent. Well, innocent for a Xiao Long even if she called herself Rose.

"Well it's really up to you," Nora said throwing her arm around the younger girl's shoulders almost knocking her to the ground. "You can go dance, you can drink." She leaned closer. "You can find a quiet little corner with the right guy..."

Ruby blushed trying to squirm away as Nora cackled. Ren rolled his eyes slightly but Nora had known him long enough to know when he was amused by her antics. The others also found it funny with the exception of Yang.

"Can we please not?"

"Come on Yang," Blake said with a smirk. "She's a big girl now."

"I'm right here guys," Ruby protested.

"Nope, Ruby is going to stay my baby sister forever, emphasis on baby."

"Yang!"

"Guess a lot of people are breaking the law then," Sun said joining in. "About six people have checked her out already."

"Six people you have seen," Jaune corrected. "Could be even more."

"...Really?"

"Ruby Rose," Pyrrha said, suddenly becoming aware of the conversation. "You look grand and..." She wobbled slightly. "Any guy here would be lucky to have you."

"Or girl," Weiss added. "Really whatever you want."

"Guys you are not helping here," Yang protested.

"Sorry Yang but we won't lie to her," Nora grinned. "Booping is pretty great."

"It's true," Sun said.

"Depends on the guy," Blake said, eliciting a pout from a boyfriend. "This one... eh."

Neptune laughed at his friend's expense.

"Aww it's okay bro. If you want I can give you some tips. My girls never leave unsatisfied."

"Oh really," Weiss said as Neptune paled. "And just how many are we talking here."

Neptune's eyes widened and Nora let out a snort as he floundered, desperately trying to find the right balance between not offending Weiss but also sounding cool. He wasn't doing that good a job, not sounding cool and still offending Weiss.

But fortunately for the blue haired ladies' man, a new arrival had walked up to their group.

"Hey Yang."

It was Yang's turn to jump, all thoughts of Ruby forgotten as she nervously scratched the back of her head. Not that Nora could blame her considering how Yang's last encounter with the girl in white had gone.

"Oh um hey there." Yang froze trying to find the name through her hazy memory. "Melanie?"

She must have gotten the name right and if the twin noticed her pause she didn't show it. Melanie seemed rather focused on Yang in general. Her eyes moved over Yang and a small content smile pulled at her lips.

"Been a long time," she said continuing her cat like smile. "I hope your manners have improved."

"My manners?"

"Would you call making out with my sister after spending half the night with me polite?"

The group didn't even laugh despite the mention of Yang's embarrassment. It was just so awkward even for Nora. The blonde herself however finally managed to recover, regaining some of her usual attitude.

"You threw a drink in my face and slapped me," She said. "I wouldn't call that polite either."

Melanie blinked, before her face fell back into the smile.

"You're right. You do owe me a drink."

"I- what?"

And that was as far as Yang got before Melanie grabbed her by the hand and pulled the blonde towards her. Yang managed to look back briefly, a mix of confusion, a tinge of fear and more than a little anticipation visible. And then, the girl in white wrapped her arms around Yang's waist and walked them towards the bar.

There was a brief silence as they all tried to process what had just happened. And then...

"And that Ruby," Weiss said. "is why people go to clubs. So, that they, to borrow a phrase, can boop."

Nora squealed.

* * *

"I did not say that."

Weiss glared at Nora who was laughing as much as her hung over body would allow.

"You did," she giggled.

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"She didn't say that Nora," Jaune said and for a moment, Nora look betrayed. "You were kinda slurring by that point. Speaking is a bit a stretch." Weiss turned her ire to him but Jaune seemed to be in a good mood. "Care to refute since you remember it so well."

"I- you- ugh."

Unable to think of a witty retort or reasonable excuse, Weiss elected instead to turn away and head off to Ren's room, ignoring the giggles and laughs coming from Nora, Jaune and Ren. Knowing the night before had the potential to be bad, Weiss had the foresight to pack some more casual clothes.

Well, causal for her. Simple black jeans, a light grey t-shirt and a white woolly turtle neck. Comfortable but still elegant in her opinion. Seemed like the others agreed, as Nora leant against her.

"Mmm. You're like a cloud Weiss."

"Please get off me."

Nora just squeezed tighter but before Weiss could protest further, the door to Nora's room opened and a very sorry looking Sun and Blake slowly exited. Sun was shirtless, obviously, and wearing sweat pants while Blake was covered by a black silk robe. Weiss didn't bother to ask why she had brought such a nice garment to Rubys birthday. Blake liked what she liked after all.

The Faunus's cat ears were bare, a rarity for the girl but she didn't seem in the mood to wear a bow. The couple sat at the table wordlessly before Blake let out a grunt before collapsing into her arms.

Ruby blinked.

"Uhh what was that?"

"Tea."

And then her head was back in her arms. Sun sighed, standing up again and petting her head before heading to the kitchen.

"I know how she likes it."

An unintelligible noise escaped from Blake's arms. Weiss guessed it was gratitude. Maybe confirmation... Perhaps she just wanted them to shut up. Weiss decided to keep talking.

"So how was your night?"

"It was fun," Sun said from the kitchen. Blake just held up a thumb. "Thanks for letting us use your bed Nora."

"It's okay," Nora replied. "I don't use it much anyway, if you know what I mean." Weiss let out a noise of disgust at her blatant vulgarity. "I mean sex."

"I think they got it Nora," Ren said.

"You mean we get it."

Nora laughed, holding up her hand for a high five. There was a brief pause before Ren somewhat reluctantly joined their hands. Weiss let out another noise of disgust.

"You are incorrigible."

"I don't know the meaning of the word," Nora said with a smile.

"She really doesn't," Ren agreed.

Blake let out a snort and Weiss gave her a look but whatever Blake found funny, she didn't share with the group. Instead she turned to Weiss, suddenly serious.

"Are you alright?"

Weiss frowned in confusion.

"I guess. No better or worse than anyone else."

"Really?"

Blake didn't seem convinced and Weiss felt her confusion grow. Glancing around no one else seemed to know why Blake seemed so concerned for her. Sun too looked rather more focused on her, his face harder than usual.

"Why do you ask? Did something happen?"

"You don't remember," Sun said. "Really."

His voice sounded bitter, almost angry though Weiss wasn't sure who it was directed at. Surely not her... Okay it was possible that she could have said something to him but wouldn't he have been angry straight away, not just when she couldn't remember.

"Weiss doesn't remember anything of last night," Ruby said sulkily.

"Well that's just fantastic."

"Sun, it's not her fault."

Before Sun could answer, the kettle let out a screech as the water reached its boiling point. The Faunus sighed turning back to the kettle.

"No I suppose not."

Sun sighed again.

* * *

Blake was nervous, Sun could tell. It happened occasionally. Large crowds were something she tried to avoid, bad memories his girlfriend rarely talked about and not for very long when she did. To be honest, Sun wasn't sure if Blake had told anyone but him.

"You okay?" he said gently. Her amber eyes darted around the room, surveying every shadow. "We can go if you want."

His girlfriend smiled, relaxing slightly and taking his arm.

"No it's fine. Just old habits. I'll be fine." Her eyes changed to amusement, looking over his shoulder. "Besides I think Yang might finally have lost the white twin."

Sun turned in time to see Yang stumble into him. Her eyes widened in recognition and she dropped to the ground between.

"Hide me," she whispered.

"Trouble in paradise," Blake said with smile.

"She's really enthusiastic," Yang groaned, deftly holding her hand up. Rolling his eyes, Sun passed the blonde his bottle. "I don't remember her being so grabby."

"Last time you were the one chasing her-" Sun began.

"Please can we not talk about role reversals," Yang groaned. "Yes I like girls who play hard to get. Happy now."

"Kinda," Sun said taking back his drink while Blake took a drink of hers. "How bout you babe?"

"Pretty good."

"I hate both of you," Yang groaned. "Can you at least tell me if you can see Melanie?"

"I don't see her," Blake said. The blonde sighed in relief but that sigh quickly turned to shock, as Blake nonchalantly tapped her chin. "Her sister though..."

"Militia!" Yang yelped finding herself facing the red dressed sister. Sun suppressed a snort at the quick look of betrayal Yang shot the two of them, before her attention was back on the twin. Her chest first because, even now, Yang was still Yang.

"Hi Yang," the girl said with a smile. "Nice to see you again."

"We'll leave you to it," Blake said, linking her arm in Suns and two walked away from their friend. "Have fun Yang."

Yang shot them a "I hate you glare" before turning back to awkwardly make small talk with the twin.

"So do I owe you a drink too?"

Blake gave Yang a little wave, this was probably payback for something Sun didn't know about, and the two of them headed on their way. Blake didn't say anything but Sun was pretty sure she had relaxed now. Sometimes it was hard to tell.

Let out a noise of contentment (definitely not a purr), Blake leaned on his shoulder. Then she paused, her bow perking up slightly and she looked around, curious.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"I thought- this way."

Sun couldn't hear anything specific over the sounds of party goers but he followed Blake without hesitation. She had the better hearing after all, even with the bow. Far more useful than his tail, she would sometimes tease, but he would just laugh and tell her his tail was cooler. Couldn't pick up a bottle with her ears.

On this occasion, he would admit defeat as they moved away from the main floor towards a side door. And he heard them.

"You were staring, I saw you."

"She was serving us drinks Weiss," Neptune protested. "Besides you were looking too."

"Don't be ridiculous," Weiss scoffed, before letting out a noise of satisfaction. "So you admit you were looking."

Sun was torn. This wasn't a conversation that they should be listening to. It was private and there was a reason they had come away from the main floor to a bit of a more private area. But if this went badly, Sun didn't want to leave his friend alone.

"No I wasn't, not like that anyway. It's not my fault she was flirting. Don't know why you even care," he muttered bitterly.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, I don't even know if you want this," Neptune said, exasperated. "Sometimes you seem interested and half the time you ignore me. You're distant and even when we talk it's about nothing."

"You're being absurd."

"Am I? Then how come we haven't been on any dates? You always make up an excuse."

"It's only been a few months..." Weiss faltered a little as if she had just realised how long it's been. "Fine yes, I'm taking things slow. Is that a problem?"

"It is for me. I... kinda want something from this? Don't you?"

It was bad that Sun was proud of his friend for that. Neptune might act cool but Sun knew that his friend was looking for something more than his past forays. And so, Sun knew when he heard the next words how much they hurt.

"I don't know..."

"Isn't that an answer?"

And Weiss did not reply.

* * *

Weiss could feel all eyes in the room on her. Bits and pieces of the fight had come back to her as Sun had told the story and she was grateful that he skimmed over the details, summarising it as an argument. He went on to tell them that he had talked to Neptune after but his friend wasn't really feeling up to it. An hour or two later, Neptune had gone home.

"I barely even remember," she said once he was finished. "I should call him."

"Might be best to leave it a little while," Sun said. It was clear whose side he was on, not that Weiss would begrudge him siding with his friend. Sun barely knew her. "Give you both some time."

She shook her head. Weiss didn't begrudge him but she couldn't let this fester. She felt guilty, but also kinda relieved which just made her feel worse. Had she led him on? She had thought that she wanted something but had she jumped in too soon? Another few months and Weiss might have been ready for a relationship.

"I need to talk to him about this. Sober this time."

Sun didn't reply, taking the time to finish making Blake's tea and handing it to her.

"Thanks," she said softly. "I think you're right Weiss but think carefully about what you want to say. You don't want to make things worse."

Weiss nodded leaning forward glumly onto the table. A moment later she felt Nora pat her arm and Ruby smiled sympathetically behind her hood. Sighing, Weiss tried to return it but wasn't sure she was convincing. Overall, the heiress was grateful when the conversation moved onto different thing.

Sometime later, Pyrrha joined them having finished her shower. Her hair was still damp, tied up in a ponytail and she was dressed in what was probably her gym clothes. A track suit and red fleece. Somehow even when horribly hungover and not wearing makeup, she still looked hot.

But Pyrrhas looks were not to be the topic of conversation. Not when they could trade her mercilessly about the previous night. From how she had dropped a drink over herself then wondered where her drink had gone to how she had tried to form a dance circle then gotten embarrassed when it was her turn to dance.

For her part, Pyrrha had taken the teasing and ribbings without rebuttal. Not like she really had much of a leg to stand on to defend herself. Even Weiss felt a little bit less crap about her own state compared to Pyrrha and the distraction was a welcome relief from thinking about Neptune.

Eventually they finally got off Pyrrha, much to her relief but before they could settle on a new conversation, mainly where to get breakfast, Yang arrived. The blonde opened the door with a flourish and practically swaggered into the room.

"Good morning all," she said, far too cheerfully considering the state they were all in. "I brought donuts."

A bag was thrown unceremoniously onto the table and there was barely a second passed before Nora and Ruby dived for it. Hands and arms became a blur, that Weiss watched on partial awe before there was a cackle of victory, a pout of disappointment and Nora gleefully claimed first pick of the treats.

"What's go you so cheerful," Blake asked. "And where were you or do I not what to know?"

"Well the answers the same to both," Yang grinned pulling over chair sitting on backwards to face them. "I got to cross something off my bucket list."

Ruby made a face, obviously knowing where this was going and not wanting to join them there. Weiss smirked, not sure how Ruby managed to handle Yang's exploits. She was just glad Winter didn't get out much.

Yang's grin only increased, sparing an apologetic glance at her sister before beginning to talk.

"As you all remember-"

Then she stopped and turned back to Ruby, a blank look on her face. Confused Weiss looked to Ruby as did the rest of the group. Ruby began to fidget only adding to everyone's befuddlement.

"Ruby," Yang said seriously. "Can you take your hood down?"

"...no"

"Ruby!"

Weiss had had enough.

"Yang what are- "

And that's as far she got before, Yang's arm shot across the table faster than Ruby could react. The blondes hand grabbed onto her sister's hood and flipped it back revealing a red mark on her neck.

"Is that a hickey?"

Ruby let out a slight eep and whipped back her hood but the damage was done. Weiss looked on aghast, Ren and Pyrrha looked shocked. Nora let out a squeak of delight, clapping her hands together with glee while Blake looked concerned that she might need to restrain Yang.

"Oh my god," Nora squealed. "You have a love bite."

Love bite Nora. Really? Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Who was it Ruby?" Yang said slowly. "Tell me everything."

For a moment, Rubys eyes flickered to Weiss, probably as a cry for help. She almost did but something held her tongue. It was probably just curiosity and possible fear of getting in the way of Yang's big sister instincts.

"Yes Ruby tell us everything," Nora continued, oblivious to Yang's mood. "What was he like? Was he more cute or hot? Was he tall?"

"What does he look like," Yang said. "And how do you think he would look with missing front-"

"Okay-" Blake interrupted, taking a moment to shudder from her hangover. "Can we please stop interrogating Ruby about this. She looks like she wants to sink into the floor."

It was true. Between Nora enthusiasm over her love life and Yang's enthusiasm over repressing her love life, Ruby had sunk as far back into her chair as possible, her hood wrapped tightly around her neck to hide the mark.

Weiss smirked. It was kinda cute the way she nervously chewed the red tips of her hair. Yang was still clearly... curious about Rubys adventures the night before but was holding her tongue for now. It seemed like Yang desperately needed a distraction.

"So Yang, how was your night?" she said, changing the subject. "I don't remember much of mine."

Embarrassing to say out loud but it would do the job. And it did, Yang let out a grin that Weiss knew meant teasing was imminent.

"Really Ice Queen," she said. "And here I thought I might have found a drinking buddy. Alas, it seems I am to suffer alone with no one able to match me."

Dramatically, Yang raised her hand to her forehead as Blake rolled her eyes. Weiss just frowned, small memories beginning to stir.

"What does that mean?"

Yang just laughed.

* * *

It had taken some time but Yang had finally managed to lose Millie- Militia on the dance floor and had wandered off to find the others. Not Blake off course as she was tricksy and not to be trusted.

Oh, who was she was kidding. She would still rather than Blake than anyone else here. Or anywhere really. If only Sun wasn't- No don't think like that. Yang groaned as she tried to get rid of those thoughts she hated she had far too often.

Sun was a good guy, a great guy. That was the worst part. If he was dick this would be easy. If he was a dick, then Yang could jump in or more likely Blake would have kicked his ass to the kerb a long time ago. Of course, Yang would then be back to the main problem of being in love with Blake. The problem that Blake could never love her the same way.

The all too familiar feelings of loneliness began to swell within her and suddenly the twins didn't seem so bad. And then she heard something that made her feel slightly better.

"Oh you want a smile, do you? Well I want you to leave."

Weiss's voice was unmistakable. That slight air of elitism that was kinda funny to be around. If you didn't know her, Yang could see people not liking her but Yang had come to know Weiss quite well. Yang knew what type of her person Weiss was. By her reckoning, Weiss could be elitist but she wasn't.

And right now, a rather annoyed looking Weiss was giving her very best glare to... Oh this was just perfect. Putting on a smile, Yang slid up to Weiss and beamed at her new companion.

"Oh Cardin, what is with you not taking hints? And always with my friends."

Cardin Winchester glared at Yang. Her smile seemed to annoy Cardin much to Yang's happiness. Cardin was an asshat of the highest order and the only regret Yang had from their last encounter was she hadn't hit him hard enough. Because Yang liked Pyrrha to.

"Xiao Long," Cardin said, his creepy smile dropping. "We are trying to have conversation here."

"No you are trying to have a conversation," Weiss snapped. "I'm trying to get you to leave."

Yang's smile dropped a little. Weiss sounded upset. Had something happened?

"I think you're over reacting a little Snow Angel," Cardin began but that's as far as her got before Weiss rounded on him.

"Go away!"

"Hey there's no need-"

"Cardin fuck off," Yang said. "Now!"

She wasn't smiling anymore. Something was bothering Weiss and Cardin may not be the cause but he was clearly making it worse. Playtime was over and if he didn't take the hint now, he would learn it the hard way.

Unfortunately, Cardin had decided to cut his losses and turned away muttering something about crazy blondes. Yang decided not to mention that white was not the same thing as blonde.

Only once Yang was sure that Cardin was gone did she turn back to her friend who was now slouched over the bar.

"You okay Weiss?"

"Yeah," she said before sighing. "No but it's my own fault. Nothing you can do."

"Oh I don't know about that," Yang said, grinning to cheer her up. "We are at a bar."

Half an hour later and Yang's persistence seemed to be paying off. Weiss was feeling better, or possibly distracted or maybe just drunk but in any case, Weiss was giggling into a drink.

"Only you could have two twins chasing after you."

"I am pretty stunning," Yang smirked. "You could learn a few things if you stick close."

"Is that an invitation?"

Yang almost choked on her drink before she realised Weiss was joking. A fact that Weiss was rubbing in her face by the way she was practically howling with laughter. It was nice to see Weiss so unrestrained, Yang only wished it wasn't at her expense.

"Oh aren't we a comedian."

"You should have seen your face. I knew you were all bluster."

"I am not."

"All mouth and no trousers."

The heiress punctuated her words by jabbing Yang's chest with the red straw of her drinks frowning as it bent. Yang rolled her eyes glad that Weiss was probably too drunk to remember this.

And very thankfully, Weiss was far too drunk for Yang to make moves on tonight. Not that she hadn't thought about it. Weiss was hot (heh) in a way that was different from most girls that Yang had met. Probably the millions of Lien.

But it wouldn't be a good idea. For a multitude of reasons. Weiss was better as a friend and probably a better one than Yang deserved.

"Ugh," Weiss suddenly said. "Thanks Yang. This helped even if it probably shouldn't. Stopped me doing something I'd regret."

"You want to tell me what's wrong?"

"No I probably should but... it doesn't matter anyway."

Weiss stood up, wobbling slightly. After a moment of rebalancing, she composed herself with all the dignity a Schnee could muster.

"I am going to go find the others. I want to dance. You coming."

Yang smiled.

"I'll catch up."

Weiss nodded and walked away before Yang could tell her she hadn't finished her drink. She should probably catch up to give it to her but then she'd be on the dance floor. Yang hated dance floors. Dancing was for people with partners.

"Hey Yang," two voices said as one.

Yang groaned, suddenly grateful she also had Weiss's drink. Why the hell where they still chasing her? Turning around to face them she didn't even bother to hide her frustration at this point.

"Millie, Melanie. What's up? Here to throw drinks in my face and slap me again."

The twins laughed before glaring at each other. Oh, joy, they were competing and she had somehow turned into a prize.

"We've been thinking." First time for everything. "That we really shouldn't let you come between us Yang, no matter how cute you are."

"I think that's a great idea and I shall regretfully remove myself," Yang said standing up with a smile. "Now if you excuse me."

Two hands appeared on her chest and Yang was pushed back into her chair.

"Or I can stay. That's cool too."

"Since both of us are interested, we decided to let you decide."

Yang sighed. She really wasn't in the mood for this. Not tonight. An idea crept into her head, one she would probably regret soon. Picking up both of her drinks in either hand, she stood back up while making it clear she wasn't leaving yet.

"So who ever I pick you'll agree?"

"Yes," Melanie said.

"Even if it's not you?"

"Yes," Militia said.

"In that case..."

In one motion Yang flicked her right wrist sending the contents of the drinks flying into the face of the girl in the red dress. Militia let out a cry of shock only overshadowed by the laughter of her twin. Laughter that immediately transitioned into a screech of her own as Yang's second drink found its mark.

Thoroughly satisfied, Yang sat back down. She would probably be suffering the twin's wrath any minute but for now, karma felt rather sweet. Then she saw the look that passed between the twins and realised karma might not be done with her yet.

"I suppose we deserved that sister."

"I suppose we did, but at least Yang made her choice."

Wait what?

"Yes she did and on this one occasion."

"I think we can manage to share," they said as one.

Yang gulped.

* * *

"No," Jaune said. "I refuse to believe that happened."

Yang grinned.

"Well believe it vomit boy," she bragged as Jaune scowled as the nickname. "I got two girls who would be more than happy to back me up. I left them in quite a great mood if I do say so myself."

"No," Jaune repeated more doubtfully now. "That is not fair." Yang just continue to grin, finger gunning the blonde. "No."

The two blondes continue to argue whether Yang was lying or not. Weiss just smiled but inside she was thinking about what Yang had said. With what Blake had told her, her actions around Yang made sense. She must have been depressed about Neptune and she thanked Yang was around to stop her doing anything stupid.

So, while she couldn't remember most of the night and things with Neptune were probably beyond salvageable, it could have been worse. In the end, she had made it back in one piece and not clinging forlornly to a one night stand.

Still Weiss had the nagging doubt that there was still something about the night that she was missing. Unfortunately, everyone was here now and if no one had mentioned anything, she wasn't going to find out. Short of spontaneous memory recovery of course.

Weiss smiled as Jaune admitted defeat. The fact Yang hadn't come home with them was hard to deny after all. He started muttering something about Yang now getting two girls when he couldn't get one.

"Maybe you just aren't looking hard enough," Weiss said as she reached for the donut bag. "Couldn't have gotten anything lighter could you Yang?"

* * *

Winter wasn't home when Weiss got back. A pity. Winter probably would have interrogated her for a while about the night. Might even have been a lecture about drinking so much you black out. Normally Weiss would have been happy to avoid that but right now it would have been a welcome distraction from what she had to do next.

She had stayed at Ren and Nora's for a while longer. Pyrrha had gone home first with Jaune going to make sure she got home okay. Yang had taken Ruby home soon after and while Ren and Nora said it was fine for them to stay, it was becoming clear they were tired too. Making her excuses Weiss had left.

Walking over to her kitchen, Weiss unsurprisingly found that they had no food. Groaning, she settled for a glass of water because she had nothing else. Hopefully her sister brought something home for dinner when she finished work. Weiss would sort it but she couldn't cool and hadn't spent a harrowing amount of lien the night before. Best to let Winter sort it.

Finding some bread, she made herself some toast. Winter didn't have a toaster, just a grill. So, for others toast might not seem that impressive, Weiss took more pride than she probably should when she didn't have to eaten blacked bread. Despite her pride, she still couldn't finish the meal, her stomach making its protests known. This hang over just wasn't going to give up.

Sighing now she had run out of excuses, Weiss sat herself down on the couch. Nervously she ran her fingers down her jeans then after a few more seconds of delay, Weiss pulled out her scroll and swiped through her contacts. Pressing it to her ear she waited out the beeps until.

"Hey Weiss," Neptune said. "How are you feeling?"

The way he said it almost made Weiss groan aloud. It was so awkward. Clearly he hadn't forgotten last night like she had. Swallowing back shame, she forced herself to speak.

"Okay I guess. Just recovering a little."

"That's good."

There was a long pause.

"Look," Weiss said. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about last night. And all of it actually. I haven't been fair to you. It was too soon for me to jump back in with another guy. I thought I would be okay but I just led you on. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologise Weiss," Neptune said. "You weren't using me and you didn't lead me on. We just wanted different things I guess. It happens. We had fun but it didn't work out." He paused. "We did have fun, right?"

"Yes it was. You're a great guy Neptune. I'm sure you'll find someone soon."

It sounded cheesy but honestly it was true. Neptune was great. Another time and they could have been something. But not now.

"Thanks Weiss. I just hope things work out for you."

Something about the way he said it made her pause.

"What do you mean?"

Neptune chuckled.

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone. I just saw you as I was leaving. I know you both probably want to keep it on the down low for now."

"Both?"

And then her eyes widened in shock as she remembered.

* * *

Weiss's head was pounding as she walked across the dance floor. Definitely walked. No stumbling what so ever. A Schnee would never stumble after all. Weiss felt herself giggle.

As she laughed to herself, she stopped paying attention until someone pushed past her shoulder from behind. Her head spin slightly and Weiss could just barely make out a white blob next to a red one. They didn't pay any attention to her continuing their angry talking.

"Stupid bimbo!"

Maybe she should sit down. She had drunk rather a lot and the combination of loud music and heat was starting to get to her. An empty booth caught her eye and Weiss slid into it, leaning backwards to recover thankful that the booths essentially hid her from view.

"Hey Weiss."

Blinking, Weiss looked up to find Ruby had joined her in the booth. She smiled.

"Hey you."

Ruby was flushed red though it was hard to tell from the lighting. She fidgeted, opening her mouth to speak several times before finally succeeding. Even then, it came out more as babbling and Weiss found herself struggling to keep up.

"-and I wasn't sure if I should and maybe this is a mistake but Jaune said you should just have confidence and-"

"Ruby," Weiss said. "Slow down. What are you trying to say?"

The brunettes mouth snapped shut. For a minute, she didn't say anything. She just stared at Weiss, biting her lip as if weighing up a decision. Concerned, Weiss tried to speak.

But before she could, Ruby suddenly leant forward and kissed her. It was strong and passionate. Despite her shock, Weiss found she didn't want to pull away. In fact, she found herself kissing back.

Ruby pulled away breathing heavily. The two girls didn't say anything as the music loudly played in the background. Weiss wasn't quite sure if it was real. Had that really just happened. Weiss stared at Ruby as the brown-haired girl with red tips opened her mouth to offer some explanation.

And then it was Weiss's turn to interrupt.

* * *

"Oh."

It was all Weiss could think to say.


	23. Chapter 23

"Weiss, are you feeling okay?"

The young heiress blinked, suddenly brought back to Earth by Ren's question. Back to Beacon, more accurately. It seemed like so long since Weiss had worked a normal shift, despite it only really being a week. Between stressing about getting Ruby's birthday, trying to perfect her present and preparing for her party, it was rather cathartic to just work a normal shift without any extra stress.

Except, you know, it would be if you hadn't gotten so drunk at said party that you had kissed one of your friends and then forgotten about it until the next afternoon because the guy you had been interested in had reminded you about it. And then you thought about how they had been acting kinda weird all morning so clearly remembered kissing you as well. Better yet, having to now work with them and have them act like nothing happened.

And on top of all that, Weiss had to deal with the fact that she had never kissed a girl in her life apart from Emerald because Cinder thought it would be funny. Why the hell had she done it now? Ugh, why did it have to Ruby of all people?

Ren was looking at her and Weiss realised she hadn't answered him yet. That probably meant Weiss couldn't respond by just saying she was fine. Even Ren wouldn't let that fly.

"I'm just tired," she said. "Winter had to leave for work earlier than usual and I heard her leave."

That wasn't technically a lie. Winter was busy with work, what with the Vytal festival being so close, so she had been going into work early. Weiss had also heard her leave so what she said was true. However, the reason she heard Winter leave was because she had woken up early from the stress of having to deal with this whole situation.

"That's unfortunate," Ren said. "But I still need you to make out with Ruby."

Weiss crushed the plastic coffee cup she was holding. Thankfully, she hadn't actually filled it yet, so no burn. Even so, Weiss didn't register that, too busy thinking about what Ren had just said.

"What?!"

"I need you to make up that order with Ruby?"

Weiss felt herself going red and she quickly turned back to the coffee machine and picked up a new cup.

"I thought you said something else," she said trying to play it off. "I'll get that order done."

Ren nodded, still hesitant and probably more than a little confused about Weiss' recent behaviour. So far, Weiss had managed to put on her work uniform backward which Ren had to point out to her, she had messed up three orders and jumped out of her skin anytime anyone so much as brushed past her.

And that was why Weiss knew Ruby remembered what had happened because she was acting the exact same as always. Like nothing had happened at all. Ruby was one of the nicest people she knew. One time when they had been out walking Zwei, Ruby had delayed them an hour trying to help a stranger find their dog.

So, for Weiss to be acting like this and for Ruby not to notice meant that she also had her mind full. Weiss felt kinda bad for Ren seeing as though he was unknowingly caught in the middle of this lover's Cold War.

Not that they were lovers. Dammit.

Groaning, Weiss tried to focus on the job at hand. Just finish making the drinks for this group who were thankfully not in that much of a rush, content to talk amongst themselves at their table. Well mostly it was just one of them talking. The girl who somehow pulled off a beret seemed a little louder than her companions and Weiss was hesitant to give her more caffeine.

And then Weiss realised she had no idea what she was meant to be making. Looking around quickly, the young heiress let out another moan as she confirmed she hadn't made a note of it.

"Ren," she said. "What is it they ordered?"

"Why?" Ruby muttered before he could answer. "Forget something?"

Oh well that was just wonderful. Ruby was being snarky. Well that was it. Weiss was not going to let this build up any longer. She grabbed Ruby by the arm, gaining a squeak of surprise from the girl before Weiss marched her past Ren through the kitchen.

"We need to talk."

"What about the order?" Ren said only to be met by Weiss snapping.

"Handle it."

* * *

Weiss ignored Ruby's protests until they got up to the changing room and she was sure Ren couldn't hear them. She released her grip on Ruby, depositing her onto the bench.

"Weiss, what are you doing?" Ruby said. "We are meant to be working. Can't this wait?"

"No, it can't," she replied. "We need to talk about what happened at your party. At the nightclub. When you and I... When you..."

Weiss trailed off, all the momentum she had built evaporating leaving her spluttering nonsensical gibberish. Dust she was acting such like an idiot, why hadn't she just left it alone? Or at least prepared something in advance?

Thankfully, or perhaps not, Ruby seemed to understand what she was trying to say. Her silver eyes widened in a mixture of shock, nervous and perhaps just a little help.

"You remember," she said, slumping slightly as though she couldn't quite believe it. "You really remember?"

"Yes, of course I remember," Weiss snapped, before continuing slightly more sheepishly. "After some prompting..."

"Oh god, someone saw us!"

"It was just Neptune."

"Just Neptune? He's going to tell Sun who will tell Blake who will tell Yang!"

"Relax, he's not going to tell anyone. But keep your voice down. Ren might hear you."

"And he would tell Nora who would tell Pyrrha who would tell Jaune-"

"Ruby."

"-who would tell Blake who would tell Yang."

"Why would Jaune tell Blake?"

"They both read comics."

"How did Jaune get her into that?"

"Blake got Jaune into it."

"Blake seemed much cooler when I first met her." Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose before realising they were horribly off topic. "Wait, this isn't the point. You remembered from the start?"

Ruby didn't say anything for a moment, twisting on the bench with her hands fidgeting on her lap.

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

Once again, Ruby said nothing. Weiss could almost recognise the look on her face as she bit her lip. It was the look people had when they didn't know whether to lie or not. When they couldn't decide if the truth was too hard or if dishonesty was the better option.

But Ruby didn't like to lie, Weiss knew that. So, when Ruby spoke, Weiss also knew it was the truth even if she didn't fully understand it.

"Because I like you."

"You were scared it would ruin our friendship?" Weiss asked, confused.

"No I mean," she swallowed. "I really like you..."

And only then did she get it.

"Oh."

Suddenly, Weiss felt rather dizzy. Standing wasn't something she could do right now so the young heiress slumped down onto the bench next to Ruby. She could feel Ruby's eyes looking at her, waiting for her to react and see if her fears were unfounded. But Weiss didn't have an answer for her, just more questions.

"How long?

"A while now," Ruby replied softly. "A little after your fight with Blake I think."

"Does anyone else know?"

"No. Well I haven't told anyone. I think Jaune and Nora have guessed I like someone. My dad also thinks I've been acting weird but no one knows for sure."

"Why?"

Why what?"

"Why do you like me?"

"What kind of question is that? Look at you. You're gorg..."

Ruby shut her mouth quickly, flushing bright red. Weiss felt her own cheeks turn slightly pink knowing what Ruby was going to say, yet still she felt compelled to ask anyway, just to hear her say it.

"I'm what?"

"You're really pretty," Ruby mumbled. "And not just that. I mean you're could have been awful. Rich and beautiful. You didn't have to try to do anything and could have just stayed in Atlas. It would have been easy but you didn't. You came here instead."

"That wasn't really my choice. And if Winter wasn't here, I probably would have stayed in Atlas."

"I know but your sister didn't make you a good person."

Weiss didn't really know what to say to that. This was all too much. She was meant to come up here with Ruby and talk about the kiss. It wasn't meant to mean anything. It was just a kiss but now Ruby was telling her all these things and it was all so confusing.

What was she meant to say? She knew what Ruby wanted. She wanted them to be together. Just like Ren and Nora or Sun and Blake. Or maybe Ruby just wanted to date and see how it went. Maybe she didn't have huge expectations. They were just teenagers after all.

But how could Weiss let her down gently? This wasn't like turning down a random stranger in a club. This was Ruby, her best friend. This changed everything. How could they come back from this? Could they come back from this? And then there was the other small voice asking in her head.

Did she want to come back from this? Would trying this out really be so bad? Weiss had only ever dated guys. She hadn't even thought about girls that way but was that because she wasn't attracted to them or because she's hadn't thought about it.

"Weiss, please say something."

Weiss blinked, looking up into Ruby's eyes. The most brilliant silver. Weiss could see the hope in them. The longing for this possible relationship. Weiss didn't know if she wanted to say no to them.

But she also didn't know if she could say yes.

"I think we should go back to work," she said. Her voice was cold and without emotion. "Ren's probably wondering where we are."

"But-"

"We need to work. We can talk about this more later. I... I need to think about this."

For the first time since Weiss had known her, Ruby's eyes seemed to dim to a dull grey.

"Oh."

The younger girl stood up quickly and left the room without saying another word. Weiss just watched her go, staring at the hallway even after Ruby had vanished from view and the door had swung shut.

* * *

Finishing work had been torturous. Weiss didn't think that she and Ruby had said a word to each other, the latter even volunteering to count the freezer stock just to avoid her.

Ren had noticed immediately something was wrong and had even made some attempts to start conversation. When Ren was starting conversation, Weiss knew they were in trouble.

So many times, Weiss had opened her mouth to try and talk to her again but every time she tried, no words came. Nothing had changed from their talk. She still needed to think. She needed advice.

And that was another problem. If this was anyone else, Weiss would have talked to Ruby about this. Even if Ruby didn't have experience in the matter, just talking to her about it would have been enough to make her feel better. Though if Ruby was at least bi, maybe she had more experience in relationships that Weiss thought.

The other person she would have liked to talk to about this was Yang. Weiss knew that Yang had a great deal of experience in relationship and being gay herself, she would have been perfect to talk to. Yang could tease but Weiss knew the blonde could get serious when she needed to be.

But obviously, Yang was out of the question. Hey Yang, I made out with your sister and now I don't know if I should I experiment with her or just turn her down. Wait, is that your fist?

Apart from that, Weiss didn't know who to talk to. Pyrrha was nice but frankly her romantic credentials left a lot to be desired. Blake also wouldn't work. They were friends but not close enough for something like this. It was the same for everyone else.

"Weiss, what's wrong?"

The young heiress jumped at her sister's words. Dropping her fork in shock, it dropped into her dinner and splattered her with pasta sauce. Wiping her top clean from the tomato, Weiss presented her mask of calm.

"I'm fine."

Winter raised her eyebrow.

"Clearly," Winter said. "You've barely said a word since I got in, have been distracted and have eaten almost nothing."

"Maybe I'm just not in the mood for pasta."

"If that was true, you would have said so instead of just moving it around your plate."

Damn Winter and her observant nature. A side effect of her overly introverted and socially awkward youth. Father had preferred for Winter to stay quiet when company was around. By Weiss, he had learned that led to a daughter who couldn't hold a conversation to save her life, content to observe and not interact.

Now Winter had learned to converse normally, if a little formally, but she had a habit of picking up patterns and routines in people she knew. Of course, she would have picked up on Weiss's mood. You would have to be robotic to not notice Weiss was having problems.

"It's nothing really," Weiss sighed. "It's just... nothing."

"I see. Do you wish to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"I can imagine it's difficult to talk about nothing."

"You really aren't helping."

"I'm better than nothing."

Weiss laughed despite herself. Her sister's sense of humour rarely showed itself but when it did, it was always welcome. Maybe Winter could help. She was six years her elder so Winter had to have some experience, although... Weiss felt her brow furrow. She couldn't remember Winter showing an interest in anyone.

"Winter," she asked, not quite sure how to broach the subject. "When was the last time you dated someone?"

Her sister paused, her fork halfway to her mouth, staring at Weiss. It was almost funny, making her look like a gold fish. Very unlike what people probably imagined a Schnee to look like, but then again, most wouldn't imagine a Schnee in the uniform that Weiss wore to work.

"I, uh-" Winter put her fork down, taking a moment to compose herself, while Weiss just remained quiet. She had never seen Winter flustered before. "I will admit that it's been a while. I'm more focused on my work. It's not a priority and this apartment barely holds the two of us, let alone another man."

"I didn't mean to inconvenience you. I know me being here is a burden but-"

"It's not- you're not." Winter sighed. "The truth is, I haven't really... I've never been with anyone, in that way."

"Really?"

"No."

"Never."

"No."

"...Really?"

"Weiss!"

The younger Schnee threw up her hands, hoping to placate her sister who had turned slightly red. Weiss hadn't meant to embarrass Winter. It was just a little shocking.

"Sorry, it's just surprising."

"Not really," Winter sighed. "I'm not exactly a warm person and I don't do a lot outside of work."

"Even so-"

"Thanks."

"You know what I mean," Weiss said, waving her hand. "You are attractive. Surely you've had some attention."

"Of course, but I imagine so do you. How do you react to those types of advances?"

"...Point taken."

Winter gave her a slight smile.

"It doesn't bother me really. I just focus on other things." Weiss wasn't entirely convinced by her sister's words, but Winter didn't give her a chance to ask further. "I take it by your questions, romance is the source of your problems as well."

"Am I that transparent?"

"Yes, who is he?"

Weiss hesitated.

"She..."

To her credit, Winter managed to hide her shock. Not very well but turning the choke into a cough was a good idea. Weiss didn't think it would bother Winter, even their father cared more about her dating the proper sort more than their gender.

"I..." She cleared her throat. "I was not aware that you were open to that."

"Trust me neither did I."

"Well, if you were worried about my reaction, I assure you that it doesn't bother me. As long as you're happy, who you date is no concern of mine. And Vale is a rather progressive city. I doubt you will find much controversy."

"It's not just that... but thanks." Weiss sighed. "It's someone from work. They're the only friends I have. I don't want to lose that."

"Nothing worthwhile is risk free Weiss, you should know that by now."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Thanks Winter."

Winter turned back to her food, leaving Weiss to ponder her words. Winter was right; she couldn't ignore this just because she feared what she might lose. It wasn't fair to either of them.

Making the decision to text Ruby for a meet up later, Weiss felt like a load was lifted from her shoulders. Just the idea of confronting this head on felt good and Weiss picked up her fork, taking a mouthful of her food.

Then she grimaced.

"Your cooking really is terrible by the way."

"You're welcome Weiss."

* * *

"So…"

"So."

On the way to Ruby's house, Weiss had ran through what she was going to say about eight times. She had carefully rehearsed every word. When Taiyang had let her in the house, she had thought about how she would sit. Passing Yang on the stairs, she had quickly perfected her hair.

And now, sitting on the edge of Ruby's bed, Weiss just found herself lost in Ruby's eyes. Now she knew, it was hard not to look at Ruby in that way and even in her casual clothes, Ruby looked better than ever. Suddenly their eyes met and Ruby blushed quickly looking away, pulling up her knees and wrapping her arms around them.

"So," Ruby said, again more quietly this time.

"So, Ruby, I've given this some thought." Weiss cleared her suddenly very dry throat. "I... I would like to try this."

"Really?"

Ruby's eyes lit up, like she had expected Weiss to come all this way to just turn her down. Weiss nodded.

"Yes. I - you must understand, I've never thought about a girl like this before. I don't know how this will work. I don't want to hurt you, even accidentally."

"It's not like I've been with a lot," Ruby said. She was so excited she looked giddy. It was infectious and Weiss soon found herself repressing a giggle. Ruby didn't mind, unwrapping from her ball and scooting closer to Weiss. "You really want to."

"Yes Ruby."

"With me?"

"Yes Ruby."

"And you're not just saying that?"

Weiss rolled her eyes, taking Ruby's hand and giving it a squeeze.

"Ruby, do you really think I would date someone I didn't want to?"

Ruby laughed, rubbing her thumb over Weiss's hand, unaware of how it sent shivers through Weiss' body.

"I suppose not." Ruby suddenly went quiet. "So, can I kiss you again?"

Weiss blinked, leaning closer as Ruby mirrored her movements. They were so close and the only thing between them was a few strands of Ruby's hair. Her hand steady, Weiss rang her fingers over Ruby's cheeks and brushed the red tipped strands behind her ear.

"Yes Ruby."

And then they were one.


	24. Chapter 24

Weiss was happy. The sun was shining high, brightening her day. A gentle sea breeze was blowing through her, making it so that the heat didn't overwhelm her as much as usual. The day was beautiful and there was literally not a cloud in the sky.

Sighing in contentment, Weiss leaned back on the bench she was sitting on. Her sun glasses slid up her nose slightly and normally, Weiss would have had to fix them - it would bother her so much. Not today though.

Today was her first date with Ruby and Weiss was determined not to ruin anything by overthinking and neurosis. Ruby was in charge today, having practically demanded it, claiming "I asked you out, so I have to organise the first date".

It made sense and Ruby did know Vale better than her. Weiss had only been here for a few months and generally was taken to places rather than knowing them. Ruby had lived here all her life. She probably knew lots of fun and exciting places for a first date...

What would Ruby do for a first date? It was the middle of the day so it wouldn't be a dinner dates. Romantic dinners didn't really seem like Ruby's style. She would probably get bored and she would be right to. Weiss had been to plenty of dinners back in Atlas and they all tended to be rather dull.

Would she go for something adventurous or outdoorsy? Glancing down at her ice blue blouse, light jeans and heels, Weiss could only hope not. Images of the pair of them trying to complete a military style obstacle course entered her head. That image quickly evolved to their sisters as drill sergeants, crawling through mud under barbed wire, failing to climb walls and colossal amounts of rain.

That was probably unlikely... probably. Besides, Ruby had said to wear something casual so strenuous exercise was probably out. Though if push came to shove, Weiss could probably run in her sundress. Probably not her heels though.

Maybe Ruby would try to appeal to what she thought Weiss would want to do. Ruby always said she was posh and classy. Maybe she would take her to a museum or art show or something like that. That would be awful and Weiss would feel obligated to pretend she was enjoying it even though both of them would be bored out their mind.

Though Weiss could probably find them a quiet corner and just snog for a bit. Maybe a museum wouldn't be so bad...

Wait, no overthinking this. Just relax. Letting out another long breath, Weiss fixed her glasses. Whatever Ruby had planned, Weiss was sure it would be fun. It's just how Ruby was.

Still staring at the sky, Weiss suddenly found her vision blocked by a grinning Ruby Rose. Weiss smiled back.

"Fancy seeing you here," Ruby said, coyly.

"Yes. Fancy that." Weiss sat up as Ruby jumped over the bench to sit beside her, ignoring all natural laws of personal space with how close she sat. "I was meant to be meeting someone but they're late."

"I was not late."

"You said two. It's five past."

"Five minutes is not late."

"Yes it is. It's five minutes late. I know because I was waiting."

Ruby pouted dramatically before grinning again and schooching even closer.

"It's probably just feels like I was late because you were so early."

"There's nothing wrong with being punctual."

"Maybe but you always arrive way too early. I bet you've been waiting at least ten minutes."

"I'm only early for the things for things I'm really looking forward to."

"Oh then I take it back. You've probably been waiting for at least twenty minutes."

"You are such a dolt."

Ruby giggled, replying in a sing song voice.

"But I'm right."

"True," she said and Ruby blinked in surprise. "A right dolt."

Ruby laughed pulling back from Weiss before standing up and offering her hand. Rolling her eyes at the overly dramatic gesture, Weiss nonetheless took her hand and rose to her feet. It felt nice.

"Shall we?" Ruby said.

"We shall."

They walked along the pier, heading further into Vale. Ruby had said she couldn't decide where to take Weiss for their first date so she elected for the shotgun effect. Today would be hanging out all day, just the two of them so that Ruby could show Weiss her home town properly, not just the places they went as a group.

She was dressed for walking, wearing black and red trainers meaning that for the first time ever, Weiss had the height advantage on a date. She also wore a black skirt leaving her legs bare to take advantage of the weather, or at least that's what she said. Weiss had a sneaking suspicion Ruby might be trying to show off, considering she was also wearing a red hoodie on top of a black t-shirt. A sleeveless hoodie but a hoodie nonetheless.

"I can't believe you own a sleeveless hoodie."

"I like them."

"And black in this weather? How do you not boil?"

"I like them." Ruby grinned. "You like my style too, else you wouldn't be here."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. Ruby had a point she supposed but not to sound pretentious, her looks weren't why Weiss had agreed to date. After all she had never thought of a girl in that way before so what had attracted Weiss to Ruby was more her general outlook.

Still now that Weiss was thinking of girls like that, she would admit that she had noticed some things about Ruby she hadn't before. Not that she would mention that of course.

"No comment," she said with a smile.

They continued their walk along the pier a few feet more until Ruby turned back to her.

"Weiss?"

"Yes Ruby?" she replied.

"I like your style too."

"Oh I know." Weiss smirked. "You keep staring at my legs."

"Wha-no I don't." Her red face betrayed her. "I just- uh- glance?"

Weiss just smirked back.

* * *

They were getting closer to their first destination. Weiss could tell, not because Ruby had said so, but because she was clearly getting more nervous. Her hand was getting sweaty and she kept subconsciously running her thumb over Weiss's hand.

She wanted to squeeze her hand and reassure her it was going to be great but the truth was, Weiss was staring to get a little nervous herself. She felt sort of comfortable in their swipe control but did Ruby? Should she break the silence herself, but what would she say?

All in all, she was rather relieved when Ruby finally stopped walking, even if she was slightly confused on why they had stopped. Looking around she couldn't see anything that screamed date. It was just a lot of workers setting up stands and what looked like roller coasters.

"This isn't the date," Ruby said, quickly. "I just thought you'd like to see the Vytal festival."

"Oh, that. Winter mentioned she was working on it but I don't know what it really is. Just rollercoasters and fairground stuff isn't it?"

Ruby nodded, eyes wide in joy.

"Yeah and it's super fun. I've been going for years, first with dad and Yang, now with my friends. Last year we all went from Beacon and it was awesome. Blake won me a plushy cat on a shooting gallery. Nora managed to get locked in the stocks." Ruby laughed. "Yang and Pyrrha got into a competition on the gladiator arena-"

"Gladiator arena?"

"It's like a bouncy pit with two platforms. You have a baton and you have to knock your opponent off. "

"Sounds barbaric."

"Yeah, it's great. I'm not great though. Too small." Ruby looked forlorn for a minute before jumping back. "Anyway, Yang and Pyrrha got into a competition. Pyrrha won the first, Yang won the second. The third took so long they were asked to stop so other people could play."

Weiss laughed slightly, covering her mouth.

"I can't imagine they were happy about that."

"It's the only time I've seen Pyrrha mad. If they went much longer, she probably would have won and you've seen how competitive she can get." Vietnam flashbacks of the paintball games flashed in her mind. "I think Yang was glad to get out of there. Means she still won her bet."

"Really? How?"

"She bet that Pyrrha wouldn't be able to beat her. Technically Pyrrha didn't."

Weiss winced at the mention of bets. Her own tattoo almost burned on her back, an eternal reminder that she still had to get her revenge on Yang for that. Someday soon.

"What was Pyrrha's forfeit?" she asked, curious. She didn't remember Pyrrha in Nora's videos of the forfeits. "I can only imagine it was horrible."

"Nah, it wasn't so bad. Jaune started dating someone and Yang was trying to get Pyrrha's mind off it. Pyrrha had to go on a date with one of Yang's friends. Pyrrha said he was a nice guy, but I don't think she really gave it a chance."

"It sounds like an..." Weiss struggled to find the right words. "Interesting experience. You'll have to show me around when it's on."

Taking her hand again, Ruby gave it a slight squeeze before they started walking again. While not, Weiss's first choice for a date location, maybe it could be fun. She had never really been into rollercoasters, having clung to Mercury when they had. Fairground food was awful as well... Still, it could be fun.

"It's going to be great," Ruby said. "And I'll get to go on a ride I've never been on."

"What's that?"

"The Love Train," Ruby said, grinning as she saw Weiss blush.

"We will not be going on that."

"Yeah we will."

"No."

"Yup."

"No."

"Yup."

"No."

Maybe...

* * *

The next part of their date was a storied tour of Vale's center. It was amazing really. From the beach front to tiny stories Weiss had never even noticed, Ruby seemed to have a story for every part of her hometown.

"Oh and this one time when I was six, we were at the beach and Zwei got too excited and ran away. Dad had to look for him for ages until he eventually found him hanging out in that store that sold things to put your marijuana in."

"You mean things that people put marijuana in?"

"No, they say it's specifically for marijuana. They're nice people. They were sad to see Zwei go apparently."

"Shocking."

Atlas had always just been a city to Weiss. She had regular places that she had hung out in, first with Amber (mostly parks or library's where they could get away from the responsibilities of their names) and then different places with Mercury, Cinder and Emerald (where they had hidden for different reasons). But they had been that, just places.

To Ruby, all of Vale was her home. She talked non-stop, nerves for their date and enthusiasm for her stories. It definitely took the pressure off Weiss though she made sure to keep up her part of the conversation adding her opinions of the beach city. Well… she added her good opinions and kept the less than nice ones she had to herself.

After a while of walking in the Vale sun, Weiss suggested they stop for a break. Ruby may have a lot of energy, but Weiss definitely did not. Obviously, swinging by Beacon was out of the question so they were forced to go to a different cafe for ice cream and drinks.

"Ugh, this just feels so dirty," Ruby said, taking a seat in their booth. "Dad would kill me if he knew I was betraying Beacon."

"You're being overdramatic," Weiss said, sliding opposite her. "As long as you don't love it, you aren't betraying anything."

"But it's ice cream, Weiss. I love all ice cream."

Weiss shrugged.

"Guess you're a traitor then."

Apparently, Ruby didn't feel too bad about her getting ice cream, ordering the biggest Sundae on the menu. Then she started asking the waitress for extra sauces and toppings on it causing her to stare at Ruby while Weiss just facepalmed. Weiss just ordered a lemon sorbet mostly because she knew Ruby would complain about her being boring if she just got a drink.

Their deserts took a while, (Ruby let go of my shirt so I can complain) but when they did come, they were pretty good. Not to Beacon's standard, as Ruby quickly said once the waitress was out of earshot, but still good.

They ate in silence taking the time to cool down, the soft hum of a fan and a radio stopping things from getting to awkward. Only now did Weiss realise just how tired the Vale sun had made her. Not nearly enough to bail on the date but enough that Weiss didn't feel the need to eat quickly. Besides she still had another question she wanted to ask.

"Ruby," she said. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Sure," Ruby replied with a mouthful of ice cream. "What's up?"

"It's kinda personal."

Ruby paused, spoon halfway to her mouth. Weiss smirked at the sight causing the girl to blush, quickly stabbing it into her sundae. Moving it out the way so they could look at each other properly, Ruby smiled softly, letting Weiss know she was okay to continue.

"I was just wondering... since I've never really..." She sighed. "When did you realise you liked girls?"

"Oh." Ruby took a moment, thinking about her answer. Just that itself made Weiss feel a bit better. She wasn't weird or strange for thinking about it for herself so much. All her female friends throughout her life, if they had asked her, would she have dated them? Emerald was a definite no but Cinder? She did always have a way of enamouring people. And Amber had been one of her closest friends.

"It must have been back in high school," Ruby said. "It was the school dance and me and my friends really looking forward to it. It was kinda dumb but I was only sixteen, it felt like a big deal."

"We had to practise some formal dances for a while before hand, so we decided to go to the dance with our partners. On the night, the only time we were dancing we were talking and laughing. It was just so much fun. Near the end, we snuck away to an empty room, just the two of us. It was my first kiss."

"What was her name?" Weiss asked

"His name was Scarlet. I kissed him and realised I didn't really feel anything. I felt really bad. I think he really liked me but it was kinda obvious I didn't feel the same way."

"How did you know it just wasn't him?"

"I didn't, not then and there anyway. But at the after-party I ended up snogging a girl in a closet."

Weiss almost choked on the sorbet she had chosen that moment to take another mouthful of. Coughing and spluttering, she stared incredulously at Ruby who at least had realised how blunt she had been without meaning to, even if she was still grinning unabashed.

"Her name was Octavia. She kept trying to pull me onto her lap and after a few drinks, I uh... sort of let her. We never dated or anything but it was then I realised I didn't really like guys that way."

She shrugged and Weiss was amazed at just how casual she was. For Weiss this was all so new, a facet of herself she didn't know existed. For Ruby, this was something in her past, something confronted and dealt with. She couldn't help but envy that but on the bright side, she had someone to help her through it.

"Dad was cool about it. It probably helped Yang had come out by then. To be honest it was kinda anticlimactic. Dad was just like, 'love you, now eat your brussels.' I think he was just glad he didn't have to deal with teenage boyfriends."

"It must be hard to have such a supporting father," Weiss said dryly. "However did you manage?"

"Oh, right... sorry."

"It's fine, I was just joking. Besides I doubt my father cares about the sex of my partner, just their bank statements or business connections. He's very progressive with his classism."

"That's..." Ruby brow furrowed as she tried to think of a way to describe it that wouldn't offend Weiss. "Nice?"

She needn't have bothered. Weiss hadn't really liked her father or cared about his opinion in years and if she got her way, Ruby would never meet him. Well if she had her way, her father would never meet any of them or even set foot in Vale.

"It's okay Ruby. Trust me, there's not much you could say about him that would offend me at this point."

"Oh good. I mean," Ruby paused. "I could try if you want?"

Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Just eat your ice cream."

* * *

Ruby insisted on paying despite Weiss's objections. Not that she had wanted to pay for it all herself. Splitting it fifty-fifty seemed like the best option to her. Okay, it wasn't very romantic of her, but hey, you don't get rich by spending money.

Anyway, Weiss eventually dropped her objections and let Ruby pay. It seemed to make her happy, probably some part of being a good date or something like that. It was kinda dopey if rather cute. Pretty much Ruby in a nutshell. A nutshell dipped in sugar and chocolate.

And then disaster struck as the skies burst.

"Where did this even come from?" Weiss said annoyed.

Well, she more shouted than said. When it rains, it pours after all and the rainfall was heavy, landing hard and fast on the sea and boardwalk. It's all Weiss can do to be heard.

The two girls rushed to the shop side of the boardwalk, huddling together under the building to shelter as best they can. It didn't work really, and Weiss felt like she was soaked immediately.

"No," Ruby said. "We still have more to do... I wanted to show you the music store..."

"I'm sorry Ruby," Weiss said. "But this doesn't look like this is stopping anytime soon. We might have to call it."

"No, no, no. It's fine, it's just a little wet. We'll be fine."

"Ruby, we will not be fine." Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ugh, why are you so stubborn with rain? This time I don't even have an umbrella."

Ruby didn't say anything for a moment. She stared at the ground, kicking at the quickly forming puddles.

"I just- I just wanted this to be a good date."

Weiss softened. She took Ruby's hand, and the girl looked up at her. Rain was already running down her head, plastering it together so that the water pooled at the end of her red tips before, falling to the ground. Weiss felt herself shiver as she watched, though she didn't think it was from the cold.

"Ruby, this was a good date. I had fun. Don't worry, you can show me the rest another time." She smiled. "Now let's go home before we get ill."

"But, I-" Ruby sighed. "Ugh, fine. Let's go."

"I knew you had some sense in there somewhere."

They ran back down the walkway, darting between the small bouts of cover. Not that it made much difference; they were soaked to the bone almost immediately. Still, it was almost a game, running hand in hand from shop to shop. It made Weiss feel like a kid again.

They couldn't go very fast, a mix of Weiss's poor fitness and the fact she was wearing heels. More than once she almost fell flat in her face, only be saved but Ruby being there to balance her. Weiss didn't care though and Ruby's disappointment soon fell away to laughter as she jumped in puddles and splashed up at Weiss.

"Ruby," she shrieked, her hair plastering to her face. "You dolt."

The girl just stuck out her tongue, before her eyes gleamed. Following her gaze, Weiss saw a huge puddle and before she could react, Ruby had tightened her grip on Weiss and charged them towards it. Unable to stop her, Weiss just resigned herself, even laughing as the water splashed upwards enveloping both of them in a huge wave.

"Well I'm glad to see you are enjoying yourself," she said, shaking her head. "Though there is no way we won't be getting ill after this,"

"Who cares?" Ruby laughed. "It's fun." Her eyes lit up and she grabbed at her pocket. "Oooh oooh, we should get a picture."

Pulling out her scroll, Ruby grinned. Positioning herself next to Weiss, she smiled brightly, taking a photo before Weiss could fix herself. Weiss scowled at the picture of them, her own face half obscured by white strands of her hair and her mouth not quite having enough time to make a smile.

"Delete that."

"I like it," Ruby giggled. "It's real."

"I look awful."

"Weiss you always look pretty."

"I look like a mess, delete it."

"Nope."

"Ruby," she warned.

"Here let's just take another one."

Reluctantly conceding, Weiss took a moment to fix herself. She pushed her hair back behind her ears and rubbed some of the runny make up off her face. This time when Ruby leaned close, grinning so brightly her eyes were shut, Weiss was able to join in, her own smile more subdued but still happy.

"Happy now?" Ruby asked with a grin.

A mischievous idea slipped into her head.

"Hmm, maybe just one more."

"Really, are you serious?"

"I still don't think I look quite right."

"Ugh, fine. You're so fussy sometimes Weiss."

Weiss worked to contain her smile at her idea. Pretending to fix her hair once again, she leaned close to Ruby, waiting for Ruby to close her eyes with her smile before making her move.

The snapshot of Ruby, wide eyed in shock as Weiss's lips pressed against her cheek, was her favourite of the three.

* * *

Trying to hail a taxi had been a lost cause and evident almost immediately. Obviously, no taxi driver had wanted to pick up the two girls that were soaked to the bone, and they were likely to flood the car by just sitting there.

It wasn't too bad though. Ruby's house wasn't far and their good spirits refused to be dampened, despite the rain. Tai had given them a look as they traipsed water through the hallway and Weiss had a sneaking suspicion that he had a feeling about where Ruby had been. Fatherly intuition or something like that.

Yang, however was in her room and so the two girls were able to make it into Ruby's room without notice. Ruby lent her some spare clothes and insisted that Weiss shower first.

"See, I can be responsible too."

After they had both showered and changed into dry clothes, Ruby put on a movie and the two of them sat on her bed, comfortable in their silence. A few minutes in, Ruby shifted slightly, leaning her still slightly damp head onto Weiss shoulder. Weiss sighed in contentment, not caring that the movie was awful and she had seen it before.

The doubts she had felt before seemed like a distant memory, the unnecessary worry of an overly neurotic girl. Right now, Weiss was happy to put that girl aside and just stay with this moment.

But of course, even as she held Ruby's hand and watch the girl grin goofily, just content to be with her and her own cheeks still tinged a little pink, Weiss was still the overly neurotic girl. As much as she wanted to stay in the present, her thoughts were already in the future and how the two of them dating would change her life.

"We need to tell Yang."

"We can do that after we work on your romantic talk," Ruby mumbled into her shoulder. "Sisters are a no-no."

"I'm serious Ruby," she said. "We need to tell everyone, but especially Yang."

"Buts it's hard."

Groaning, Ruby flopped backwards onto her bed, pulling her pillow across her face. Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes at the younger girl's antics, even if her muffled whines were kinda cute. Still Weiss needed to start this off right.

"I know it's hard but we need to tell her."

Ruby pulled the pillow off her face.

"We?" she asked hopefully.

Weiss suddenly had a vision of herself lying on the ground as Yang stood over her clenching her fists.

"Well..." Weiss faltered slightly. "You are her sister; maybe it would be best for you to do it alone at first. Just so we don't overwhelm her." Ruby dropped her pillow back across her face with another groan. "Fine, I'll talk to her with you."

Moving so fast it was like she teleported, Ruby's arms were suddenly around Weiss again and letting out an excited squeal. Maybe she was a little overexcited but considering how nervous Weiss had been, she couldn't imagine what Ruby must have been feeling. She was way more energetic than Weiss to begin with and Weiss didn't think her heart had stopped racing since she had walked through the door.

Unfortunately, Ruby's tight hug pinned Weiss' arms to her side and without them to balance herself, Weiss found herself tipping slightly.

"Ruby!"

She barely shouted out her protests before the two girls toppled backward into the bed with an undignified "oomph". Her vision was blocked by her own white hair strewn across her face, but despite that Weiss couldn't help but smile at the lump on her chest that was Ruby.

The brunette still had her face buried into Weiss and the heiress could almost picture Ruby's red face, unable to look up just yet. But despite their new status, Weiss couldn't let the opportunity for teasing to slip by. Actually… now they were together, it might be even more vital she teased.

"I know you're excited Ruby," she said with a grin. "But I think we should try a few more dates before we jump right to this."

As though just realising where she had buried her face, Ruby suddenly jumped backwards away from Weiss' chest, immediately bursting into a flurry of apologies even while Weiss descended into giggles.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Ruby had soon followed her example and Weiss felt that the two of them must have laughed for ten minutes straight. Maybe it was just the pressure of everything finally being lifted off her, but laughing just came so easy to them at that point.

The end result was the two girls looking rather bedraggled, as though they had been doing something far more explicit than laughing. Weiss insisted on brushing her hair before leaving the room, as well as straightening her borrowed clothes out a little.

Or perhaps she was just delaying the talk with Yang. Ruby had tried to wheedle out of it again, saying maybe they should go out a few times more before telling anyone. No need to be premature about it after all. There could still be a break up.

Weiss had almost relented a few times but for some reason she wasn't really sure of herself, the young heiress felt like Yang needed to know as soon as possible. It wasn't the same for Ruby, but Weiss needed to reassure her that nothing would change between the two and that they were still friends.

Still the walk along the hallways seemed to take an eternity. The bathroom was the only room separating the two sisters with their fathers room positioned on the other side of the hallway from Ruby's. It was nice layout really, giving everyone a little bit of privacy while still being connected...

God Weiss was delaying so much.

Though, in her defence, Ruby was even worse. Sure it wasn't her idea and Ruby clearly didn't want to talk to her sister quite yet but surely she could see the logic in Weiss's thought process.

She must have as Weiss watched Ruby take a deep breath and knocked on the door. Sure it was the weakest possible knock known to history and there was no way Yang had heard but still it was something.

Predictably, they got no reply and Ruby turned to Weiss hopefully as though it would absolve her of any responsibility. Weiss just gave her a look, trying to keep her face serious as Ruby pouted and gave another harder knock.

"Yeah," Yang's voice called through the door. "That you back Rubes?"

Ruby opened the door letting them both into Yang's room. The blonde was sitting on her bed, a laptop on her legs that she closed as she noticed them. Weiss could vaguely remember being in her room before. Back when they had her Beacon initiation, if she remembered right.

It was still cluttered, slightly smaller than Ruby's but that could just be all the clothes on the floor. Weiss could imagine her eyebrow was twitching. How could anyone live in such chaos?

"Oh hey Weiss," Yang said. "Thought I heard someone bouncing around back there. What were you doing?" She raised her eyebrow. "I don't need to give my sister the talk, do I?"

Oh, come on.

Ruby didn't help matters muttering under her breath so that only Weiss could hear about Yang being a little late. Weiss could practically feel her face heating up. Ruby must be trying to get revenge for having this conversation in the first place.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that," Weiss said quickly, trying to regain control. Then she realised that was the opposite direction she wanted to go in. "That is to say, I'm sure Ruby can handle herself."

Yang's grin slipped just a little. She wasn't concerned, but Weiss could tell her friend had figured something was up.

"Right," she said. "Is there something you guys want to tell me? You're acting weird."

Weiss opened her mouth to answer but sighed and closed it again. She knew what to say but also knew that it was important Ruby told Yang herself. With Ruby soon to be leaving-

Suddenly, Weiss realised that Ruby would be moving away soon. Not far, only an hour but since neither of them could drive, it was a significant. She's never been in a relationship where she couldn't meet the person within ten minutes of she had wanted to.

Wait focus. They could cross that bridge when they came to it.

Anyway, with Ruby moving away, Yang needed to know her sister would still be a part of her life. Weiss knew that Ruby cared about Yang's opinion and she also knew Yang probably knew as well. But she also knew that Yang would much prefer to hear it from Ruby rather than Weiss, especially not second-hand.

And it was important that Ruby learned to trust her sister a little more. Maybe it was just Weiss's imagination, but Ruby seemed to have a problem opening up to Yang. It had taken a fight and Weiss's prodding to get her to tell Yang about art school and apparently she hadn't mentioned her feelings about Weiss to Yang.

So Weiss waited patiently for Ruby to tell her sister about their new relationship, knowing instinctively that it would benefit them all. Half a minute later and they were still in silence so Weiss elbowed her.

"Ruby," she hissed.

"Oh right, uh Yang... I've got something to tell you." Ruby swallowed. "Umm…"

"What is it Rubes?"

"Umm..."

"Ruby, what is it?" Yang's eyes were almost pleading as she whispered. "You can talk to me."

"Me and- umm." Throwing caution to the wind, Ruby clamped her eyes shut and almost shouted. "I made out with Weiss at Junior's."

Weiss almost passed out on the spot. Really? That was the best way Ruby could think to phrase that? Struggling to keep her face free from red, she watched Yang's eyes widen in shock, darting from Ruby to Weiss and back to Ruby again.

"What?"

There was a moment's pause.

"And again in my room."

This was the girl she was about to start dating. Weiss was going to have to buy her some romance novels.

Yang was quiet, clearly shocked by Ruby's words. Thankfully, it was just shock on her face, not anger or anything else that would mean trouble for Weiss. It seemed more like she was just trying to process it. She had probably never really thought about Ruby dating anyone let alone Weiss.

"You and Weiss..." she said slowly before turning her head. "You and my sister..."

"Yes," Weiss said. "I know this might seem like a shock but-"

"How long?" Yang said emotionlessly.

"Just since Junior's, like she said."

And you've just... I mean you're actually both going to do this properly right?"

"Yes. We haven't gone on any dates yet. I- we thought it was important that you found out first. We don't want to do anything you are comfortable with."

Ruby nodded after a slight pause. She hadn't really said much, just standing in silent support while Yang mulled it over. Then finally Yang sighed looking up with a slight smile.

"Okay, I think can live with this. For a first relationship, Ruby could do a lot worse. "

A joke. That was a good sign. If Yang felt comfortable joking about this then she wasn't just putting on a show for their benefit. Even if the platinum haired heiress thought Yang was being slightly naive in regards to Ruby's previous romantic life.

Weiss was glad Yang trusted her enough with this. If it wasn't for Yang initially hiring her, she wouldn't have this chance at all. Though if Yang did have a problem with this and had objected, Weiss was pretty sure that she wouldn't be able to agree to that.

"Well, I'm glad you approve."

"Yeah," Ruby said. "Thanks sis."

"Though I do have to say," Yang said suddenly serious. "If you are going to date someone I care about, I hope you take it seriously. She might not look it but she can be hurt. No offense, but sometimes you act without thinking. I know you would never mean to hurt her on purpose, just be careful not to do it by accident."

Her protective instincts humoured, Yang let out a breath and Weiss tried not to be offended. She knew Yang was just looking out for her baby sister but come on. Surely she could have spared her the big sister talk.

Then Yang turned to her sister with a grin.

"You got all that Rubes?"

"Wait, that was for me?" Ruby scowled at her sister. "What the hell, Yang? I'm your sister, you're meant to be protective of me."

"Exactly. I'm your sister." Yang shrugged as Weiss struggled not to laugh. "We're Xiao Longs. We're natural heart-breakers. Not our fault. I just want to make sure you don't take advantage of my friend."

"Well, I for one, appreciate it," Weiss said. "I need someone looking out for me just in case you're only out for my name and fortune."

"You both suck." Ruby whined. "Come on Weiss. And if you're so rich, you can pay for our first date by yourself."

With that she grabbed Weiss by the hand and still giggling, Weiss let herself be dragged back to Ruby's room. Only when they were both gone did Yang let her smile fall. She was happy for them, really she was. They would be good together.

Sighing, Yang reopened her laptop, opening back onto the screen she had on before the interruption. In the wake of Ruby's news the message seemed even more mocking.

Maghnild: For when love hits you hard

No new connections.

She closed the laptop slightly harder than usual.

Yeah, it was good to have someone.

* * *

Nora - "Blake, Weiss and Ruby are dating"

Blake - "Yeah I heard."

Nora - "And?"

Blake - "And I'm happy for them. I hope it works out."

Nora - "That's it"

Nora - "Ugh you guys are the worst"

Nora - "I have no one to gossip with"

Nora - "Normally I gossip with Yang or Weiss but obviously that's out"

Blake - "Yeah I don't think Yang wants to hear about her sister's sex life."

Nora - ":D"

Nora - "So you do think they are having sex"

Blake - "…I didn't say that."

Nora - "What do you think they're into"

Nora - "Blake?"

Nora - "Blllllaaaaakkkeee."

Nora - "Ugh Weiss was so much more cooperative speculating about your weird kinks"

Blake - "What?"


	25. Chapter 25

Weiss hated morning shifts. Logically, she knew that no one really liked them. There was a reason no one volunteered for them. When she had first started, Weiss had thought it was just the early rise. No, that was only part of it... a terrible part of it to be sure. When her alarm sounded, Weiss always woke up bleary eyed and confused about what was actually happening until her brain caught up. Then came the battle to actually force herself up and face the day.

But if it had only been that, it could have been manageable. Yes, it wouldn't be pleasant but once Weiss managed to get out of the morning cold and into Beacon with a mug of coffee, the tiredness could be medicated.

Then they had to actually set up for the day. Clean all the surfaces, fill up the fridges, turn on the coffee machines as well as the dishwasher and put away anything the delivery trucks dropped off.

And then they would have to argue about who had to do the stock check, before drawing straws to see who would have that unfortunate job. Up to an hour in the walk-in freezer noting what they had, what was going out of date and what needed to be ordered in.

Finally, just to add insult to injury, after the initial rush of morning coffee, the rest of the shift was fairly boring with not many people coming in until lunchtime. By that time, they tended to be handing over to the next shift anyway. Overall it just wasn't the best shift to have and Weiss, like everyone, much preferred the mid shift or the closing shift.

Guess which shift Weiss was working today?

Well, it could be worse. She could be working with Nora who despite recently being outed as having a secret relationship, would be determined to tease her mercilessly about her new relationship with Ruby.

Guess who Weiss was working with today?

* * *

"So?"

Nora grinned at her as she leaned on the counter that Weiss had just cleaned. Weiss did her best to ignore her, continuing to wipe down the various tables of Beacon. If she gave an inch, Nora would take a mile. Weiss was only lucky that Yang had been too busy this shift to really join in tormenting her.

"Weeeeiiisss."

At least, Weiss assumed that was the reason.

"Weiss, talk to me."

"We had sex."

Nora stopped, her mouth half open as she tried to comprehend what Weiss had just said.

"Uhh what."

"That's what you were going to ask right," Weiss said bluntly. "I thought I would save us both some time. Yes, we had sex. It was wonderful, hot and passionate. Since then we've done it many times and each is better than the last. Last night, we introduced chocolate sauce, whipped cream and sprinkles. Ruby's idea of course, you know how she loves chocolate but it's my turn to pick tonight. I won't tell you what we're doing since it's obviously a private matter but I'll give you a hint. It involves a ping pong bat and several costumes changes."

There was about a minute of glorious silence as, for possibly the first time in her life, Nora was speechless. The redhead just stared at her even as Weiss had gone back to spraying and wiping tables.

"You didn't have sex, did you?"

Weiss just looked at her.

"No Nora, it's been two weeks." She began to spray the windows. "And even if we had, I would not be telling you about it. I'm not some teenage idiot, boasting about her first time, especially not in the work place."

"So..." Nora asked. "I can ask you outside the work place?"

Groaning, Weiss was saved having to answer (or possibly murder) Nora by the arrival of Yang.

"New company rule," the blonde muttered. "No talk of relationships at the work place."

Yang pulled off her gloves, throwing them onto the counter as she made her way towards the fridge. Nora and Weiss glanced at each other, watching as Yang took a sip of her soda before pausing.

"What?"

"You did the stock check."

"So?"

"No one does the stock check voluntarily," Nora said. "It's really fricken cold."

Yang shrugged.

"It's not that bad. I just couldn't be bothered with the argument today. I'm tired; I couldn't get much sleep last night."

"Nice."

Weiss groaned at Nora's comment but Yang just laughed.

"I wish. No, it was just one of those nights." As if to prove her own point, Yang yawned. "See."

Satisfied with both Yang and that the work area, Weiss nodded. The three of them quickly fell into a familiar pattern, putting away the cleaning supplies before fixing the rest of their uniforms. Reluctantly in Weiss' cases, she still hated the peaked caps they had to wear. Ruby liked teasing her for it.

Absentmindedly, Weiss slid her scroll out of her apron pocket, checking if she had any new messages. There wasn't, but that was hardly surprising. Ruby probably wasn't even awake yet so Weiss wasn't disappointed. Any excuse to look at her scroll's background, the photo of them in the rain. The fact that they hadn't gotten sick from that was still amazing to her.

With her mood slightly boosted, Weiss put her scroll away and began to prepare herself for the work day. Today was going to be a good day.

"Weiss, you're on counter duty."

Today was not going to be a bad day.

* * *

Today was turning into a bad day, or at the very least, an incredibly stressful one. First off, Weiss hated counter duty. She didn't think she was good at it and hated doing things she couldn't do. No matter what, her scoops of ice cream just didn't look right. They should be spheres right? Not... whatever it was she made.

It didn't matter how much everyone encouraged her (or how pathetic that made her feel that she needed encouragement) or if they said it didn't really matter, it bothered Weiss.

Even worse than that though, was that it had also been busy as all hell. Weiss didn't think they had a spare second since the doors opened. That meant nonstop coffees, ice creams and specials leaving Weiss frazzled and making her cones even worse than usual.

At one point, what looked like about a dozen children came in as a group. It was like a horrible horde and only Yang's surprising talent for handling the brats had stopped Weiss from just opening the counter and letting them go nuts.

In the end, she had persevered despite the nigh unintelligible amounts of orders she had been given. Her workspace and apron had been left a mess, littered with sprinkles, chocolate, sauces and melted ice cream.

"Ugh, I feel so sticky," she groaned as Yang passed with extra supplies. The blonde paused, a small smirk on her face. Weiss just rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up."

All in all, Weiss had never been more relieved to finish a shift. Groaning, Weiss climbed the stairs to the changing room, passing Pyrrha who gave her a sympathetic smile. She returned it halfheartedly, opening the door and practically collapsing onto the bench, pulling out her scroll to see a new message.

 _Ruby: Hey, how's work?_

 _Weiss :You have no idea._ _I hate children._

 _Ruby :What?_

 _Weiss :We had a party come in. At least I think it was._

 _Ruby : oh, yeah kids suck. They're loud, needy and annoying._

 _Weiss : Yeah and I get enough of that from you,_ Weiss messaged, a smirk on her face. _I can't imagine twelve of you._

Her scroll buzzed a few seconds later, a photo of a pouting Ruby in a car flashing up.

 _Ruby : Meanie. You'd be lucky to have twelve of me._

Weiss was lucky to have one of her, though she was hardly going to tell her that. Instead she just wrote.

 _Weiss : Whatever you say._ _Looking forward to Patch?_

Ruby was visiting Patch today, her uncle taking her since Tai had to stay with the store. She was still a little out from actually moving out but the Art School was putting on a meet and greet as well as a university tour and a look at the accommodation.

 _Ruby : It's going to be so fun. I can't wait to see what facilities they have._

 _Weiss :And meeting people?_

There was a longer pause.

 _Ruby :Yeah that too._

Somehow Weiss doubted that. If Ruby could avoid it, she probably wouldn't talk to anyone for anything more than the bare essentials.

Before she could reply, the door swung open and Nora skipped into the room. Sending Ruby a quick good bye and promising to talk to her later, Weiss put her scroll away and started to get her clothes out.

"Ugh what a day," Nora said, throwing off her uniform as she started to change. "I'm just glad we had Yang. Girl's pretty good with kids." Nora laughed, lounging about half naked as she searched for her clothes. Why hadn't she gotten them out first? "This one time, we had a birthday group come in and Pyrrha gave away almost all our stock because she couldn't say no to them."

Sighing, Nora stopped for a breath, finally seeming to notice Weiss wasn't quite looking at her. For a second, Weiss though Nora might notice she was uncomfortable with such unnecessary nudity but then she remembered, this was Nora.

"You hungry, Weiss?"

* * *

"How did you two think I would like this place?"

Weiss was in a bar. A sleazy bar. A very, very sleazy bar with no air conditioning, a funny smell and sticky floors. Looking around, Weiss could see that nearly every patron was a male and every server female. It was the type of place that truck drivers would stop in on between trips... Oh dust, there was even a mechanical bull.

"Honestly Weiss, we didn't," Yang said, back to normal after the strangeness of the morning. "But we like it and no one else will come with us anymore."

"Something about 'objectifying' and making us feel 'uncomfortable,'" Nora said, emphasizing with air quotes. "I think it has character. Coming here is never boring."

"Is that wine or a blood stain?"

Nora ignored her, sighing happily as she stared over the bar as though reminiscing about happy times.

"Food's good too."

"I seriously doubt that."

"I recommend the triple cheeeze burger."

Somehow Weiss could tell that cheese wasn't spelt the normal way. It probably also wasn't really cheese. That wasn't the worst bit though.

"You have a recommendation? How often do you come here?"

As if to answer her question, a waitress approached them, eyes gleaming in recognition and smiling.

"Yang, Nora. Been a while. You want the usual booth?"

Yang shrugged at Weiss, shamelessly shooting her a grin before starting to chat with the waitress. Weiss turned to Nora. not really expecting much but deciding to try anyway. Nora pointed up to a wall.

"I have a plaque."

Yang sucks. Nora's number one.

"I lasted longer on the bull. The strategy is, get Yang wasted first."

They ordered food fairly quickly, perks of Yang and Nora being popular. Weiss didn't plan on drinking, just ordering water while Nora and Yang took beer. Thinking about it, it was probably smart to go with beer. Wasn't that what they used to drink instead of water in the olden days because it was safer than the dirty water?

Her water however had seemed clean enough when it arrived so Weiss figured the food couldn't be that bad either. Well, not dirty anyway. Probably still horribly unhealthy and greasy though.

Weiss went for a chicken wrap in the end, not trusting the salad. Yang ordered a cheese burger (which was actual cheese) and Nora got chicken strips. Both her friends decided to tease her about how picky she was and Weiss soon found herself getting annoyed.

"It's not elitist to want to put something of quality in my body... Shut up."

Irritated, Weiss excused herself to go text Ruby for a bit. The signal was awful in the bar and none of her messages were going through. It was a little cold and she was getting strange looks from passers-by (clearly she didn't look like the regular clientele) but Weiss was too pissed off to care.

 _Weiss : Hey, how's it going_

Ruby's reply was almost instant, a picture of her smiling in what looked like a fairly crowed lecture hall. Weiss smirked, mostly at the dark skinned girl in blue sitting next to Ruby who had been caught in the background and looked somewhat confused.

 _Ruby : Oh god, she's staring at me._

 _Weiss : And?_

 _Ruby : She might think I'm weird._

 _Weiss : You are weird_

 _Ruby : Yeah but she doesn't know that_

 _Weiss : Better to rip that band-aid off now_

 _Ruby : You aren't helping_

 _Weiss : Relax. She probably won't remember this anyway._

 _Weiss : And if she does, what are the chances you will have to see her a lot anyway?_

 _Ruby : Knowing my luck she will be my room mate_

Weiss laughed out loud.

 _Weiss : I'm sure that won't happen_

 _Ruby : She's still staring at me_

Rolling her eyes, Weiss was about to type out a reply when another message flashed onscreen.

 _Yang : Foods here_

 _Weiss : Be one minute_

Switching back to Ruby, she typed.

 _Weiss : Got to go. Getting food at a dive bar with your sister and Nora. If I don't message tonight it's because I caught tetanus_

 _Ruby : Oh that place sucks. Talk to you later baby_

 _Weiss : Don't call me that_

 _Ruby : Sweet cheeks?_

 _Weiss : No_

 _Ruby : Baby doll?_

 _Weiss : No_

 _Ruby : My little Snowflake?_

 _Weiss : I'm taller than you_

 _Ruby : Only in heels_

Smiling happily to herself, Weiss pocketed her scroll before heading back into the bar. Realizing what she was doing, Weiss controlled herself, not wanting to give it any excuse to tease her further.

However, suspicion was the first thing she felt upon getting back to the table. They had done something, she could tell. Yang was covering it well, but Nora's attempt at a neutral face was a dead giveaway.

Slowly, she pulled back her chair staring at her friends as she tried to work out what was wrong. A quick glance at her seat confirmed she wasn't going to sit on anything, so she sat down carefully. Maybe they had put salt in her drink. Yes, that was probably it. That seemed like a Nora prank.

Picking up her wrap, she continued to stare as though she could intimidate them into breaking. If was ridiculous really, none of them had said a word since she had gotten back yet it was clear they all knew that Weiss knew that they had done something.

Taking a bite, she was slightly surprised about how spicy it was. Not too bad but the menu hasn't mentioned it. Oh well, back to the matter at hand-

"That's it?" Nora said. "You didn't even react."

"React to what?" Weiss asked, slightly thrown the prank had gone off and she hadn't noticed. "What did you do?"

"I put spicy sauce on your food."

Weiss just sighed, already feeling her Nora vessel ready to burst. It was called the Nora vessel because Nora seemed to have direct path to causing her anger. Of course, Weiss would never tell her this or that she named a blood vessel after her. It would probably make her angrier than she already was.

"You are a child," she said, rubbing her temple. "Why would you do that?"

"It was meant to be funny but you ruined it." Nora did not have the right to play the victim here. "I knew I should have used the super-hot sauce, Yang."

Yang just shrugged.

"I thought the medium would be enough. Didn't want her to melt." Yang grinned. "You know because-"

"Because I'm the ice queen, I understood. Explaining it doesn't help."

"If anything it makes it funnier," Yang grinned. "Seriously though. Props Weiss, I figured you wouldn't be able to take any heat."

Nora's eyes widened and Weiss suddenly remember the last time she had hung out with Yang and Nora alone, she had ended up with a tattoo. Dammit, she had promised herself to always have a buffer after that incident.

"You could try The Sauce."

"Let's not go crazy Nora," Yang said. "Big difference between medium sauce and The Sauce."

"I already regret asking, but, what is the sauce?"

"The Sauce," Nora corrected.

"That's what I said."

"No, you said the sauce, not The Sauce. Big difference."

Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Fine, what is The Sauce?"

Nora pushed her plate aside, as though her explanation required table space. Yang just went back to her food, as Weiss listened to Nora's explanation.

"The Sauce is the hottest hot sauce here. Legends say the owner killed a demon and this sauce was the only way to safely dispose of the body. If you aren't strong enough to handle it, your mouth will burn and your stomach will dissolve. You will sweat and you will want to die by the end of the bowl. It's not for the faint-hearted."

Weiss just looked towards Yang, who paused a chip halfway to her mouth..

"Hot sauce challenge they do here. If you can do it you get your picture on the wall and half off drinks."

Finishing off her chips, Yang pointed to the wall above their booth and Weiss looked up to photos of Yang, Nora and oddly Blake. Each one of their photos showed them smiling but only barely, like they had each ran a marathon in the desert. The most ridiculous part was the names underneath.

Thor

Dragon

Shroud

"In our defense," Yang said. "We didn't pick the names... though we did approve them."

"So it's really just a stupid eating challenge?"

Nora gasped.

"Stupid eating- There is no such thing."

"All eating challenges are stupid."

"Spoken like someone who couldn't do it," Yang said. "It's okay Weiss, medium is still good."

At this point, a small voice in the back of her mind was telling her to stop. It was accompanied by the soft prickling on the back of her shoulder on the shape of a snowflake.

Unfortunately, that voice just wasn't quite loud enough.

"I could do it," Weiss said. "I just don't want to."

"Sure."

"It's juvenile."

"Yup."

"Not worth my time."

"Absolutely."

That voice was getting louder now and the snowflake was starting to feel stabby."

But Yang had a shit eating grin on her face and Weiss had her Schnee pride within her blood. She was not going to back down now and she stared at Yang with a fire in her eyes.

"However," Weiss said. "If I were to try. I would be able to do it faster than you."

Nora started to giggle, excitedly clasping her hands together as she let out an ooooh noise at Weiss's challenge. But both girls ignored her now. This was between them.

"You sure you want to ride this train again Weiss?" Yang said. "I was nice last time. Who knows what could happen this time?"

The voice of her better judgement was screaming at Weiss now. Her snowflake tattoo was burning a warning on her back.

"Well that's up to you," Weiss said coolly. "You've had this coming for a while so it's only fair that you pick your punishment."

"How generous," Yang said, tapping her chin. "Hmm, what to pick? Another tattoo seems kinda boring. Maybe a piercing. You would look great with a nose ring." She sighed and Weiss watched, trying to maintain her poker face, as Yang leaned back in her seat. "Can't make you eat anything since anything is good after the Sauce. I don't know. Thoughts, Nora?"

Yang smirked at Weiss, appearing smooth, confident and in control right up until the moment Nora replied, and both their worlds were rocked.

"Hair style."

Yang choked, almost falling off her seat, as she her head whipped round to stare at Nora.

"What?"

It was that moment that Weiss remembered that Nora had also lost a bet to Yang before and was also suffering a tattoo herself. She had encouraged Yang's last bet with Weiss and at the time, Weiss had figured that Nora thought it would be funny either way.

But she now saw the mad genius that was Nora Valkyrie. By encouraging bets with Yang, she had the opportunity to get her payback, but with none of the danger herself. Why should she stand on the firing line when there was a patsy willing to take the fall?

"Simple," Nora said with a grin. "You both get a bowl of The Sauce. Whoever can finish the six wings the fastest wins and takes the losers to the hair salon for a little trim."

Weiss felt herself gulp. A little trim seemed unlikely and she suddenly had a vision of herself, sitting in a chair with all her beautiful white hair scattered on the floor while Yang held the scissors.

And despite her surprise at Nora's suggestion, Yang was still smiling cockily at her. Considering how much Yang cared for her hair, the blonde must be very confident she could win.

"That sounds great Nora," Yang said. "What do ya say Weiss?"

Or maybe Yang was bluffing. Maybe she was gambling on Weiss backing out. After all, Weiss had already lost one bet to her and to Weiss's knowledge despite all her bets, Yang had yet to lose anyone. She would be stupid to accept this bet. They both knew that so Yang must think she was safe.

"Fine," she said as Nora squealed in excitement. Yang just grinned as Weiss tried to maintain her composure, even as her mind screamed at her.

What the hell had she just done?

* * *

Ren - "What are you doing?"

Nora - "I'm having lunch with Weiss and Yang."

Nora - "Why?"

Ren - "I had a horrible feeling you just did something."

Nora - "What? No. That's silly, you're silly."

Ren - "What did you do?"

Nora - "...nothing"

Ren - "Nora"

Ren - "Nora"

Ren - "Nora answer me"


	26. Chapter 26

The first thing that struck Weiss about **The Sauce** was the smell. Even before the young heiress had seen what it is she would be eating, Weiss' nostrils were filled with the pungent smell of spice. Other patrons of the bar turned to see what it was as the waitress opened the door from the kitchen, holding the tray as far away as she could from herself as she hurried towards them to get rid of it.

"Jeez Yang," the waitress said. "I didn't think the stereotype applied but if you really do wanna try this again, you really are blonde."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Yang said, not insulted in the least. "It's not really my choice. I just had to prove a point."

"Well I hope it's worth it luv. Can't say I envy you. Just remember to wash your hands after and don't get it in your eyes."

She dumped the two bowls on the table, hurrying away muttering about how it would take her ages to wash the smell out of her clothes. The three girls stared at each other. Never before had chicken wings seemed so intimidating.

 **The Sauce** was thick. A dark, almost black darkness enveloped the wings and radiated heat out towards them. Weiss swallowed, considering that even if she did win, it might not even be worth it if she had to eat six of those wings. It might actually kill her. Should she call Winter and tell her she's loves her?

"So," Nora said with a clap of her hands. "I want a nice clean game here. There shall be-"

"Nora," Yang said. "Shut up."

Well that was a saving grace at least. It seemed that Yang wasn't really looking forward to this either. Perhaps Weiss might have a psychological advantage having never tried this before. Maybe Yang would freeze up or get flashbacks.

Or perhaps Yang was just annoyed at Nora for putting her hair on the line.

"Ugh fine," Nora said. "First to finish their bowl wins. I'll judge if a wing counts as finished or not. Those chickens didn't die for you to half eat them."

"Seems fair."

"Agreed."

Weiss swallowed, staring down at **The Sauce** that looked almost like a black hole, it was so dark. It was like light could not escape it, it was so hot. Seemingly noting her nervousness, Yang smirked at her.

"Tell you what Weiss, if you give up now I'll limit the damage to making your hair a rainbow?"

"That's very generous of you," Weiss replied. "Sadly, I'm not so generous. How does a faux hawk sound for you?"

It had seemed like a fairly tame threat to Weiss, a bit of light back and forth but Yang glared at her like Weiss had threatened her dog, not her hair.

"Oh you're going down Ice Queen."

They took their positions, a jug of iced water for each of them and a bowl of wings so hot, Weiss was pretty sure she could taste it already. Despite her bravado she was nervous. Sure she could handle spicy food better than most but this seemed like a heavy ordeal. An ordeal that Yang had already completed once.

Oh God, her hair...

"Are you both ready?" Nora said. Neither of them replied, preferring to just nod. "Three, two, one... Start!"

It was too late for regrets now. Grabbing the first wing at the same time as Yang, Weiss bit into the meat, eyes widening as she almost choked on the heat. Oh dust, it was like her mouth was on fire- no, worse than that. It was like she was eating lava.

There was no time to stop though, and Weiss took another bite, whimpering slightly as she did so. Dear god this hurt. Why did people do this? And for fun? They were all sadists.

Glancing up, Weiss found to her horror that Yang had already finished her first wing and was fiercely gulping water, enjoying this challenge about as much as Weiss was. Already, the blonde was red in the face and swearing after only one wing.

Trying to keep a cool head, Weiss finished her first wing. Nora had told her not to rush this and both Weiss and Yang had agreed throwing up counted as a loss. This was a marathon, not a sprint and Weiss' best chance was for Yang to lose steam so she could overtake her nearer the end.

Still though, Weiss decided to forgo taking a drink, not wanting to wash away the taste only for it to come again... Even if it felt like her mouth was wasting.

"Our first wing done," Nora said, doing her best impression of a sports commentator. "Yang Xiao Long is in the lead but it's still all to play for."

Her cool head cracked and Weiss ploughed through her next wing, hoping to just eat it so quick that the heat didn't affect her so much.

And that was a huge mistake. The heat didn't have a chance to build and Weiss nearly screeched as everything hit her at once.

"Oh," she whimpered, grabbing at her glass and almost knocking it off the table, her hand was shaking so much. "Oh god."

"Yup," Yang said, her voice uncharacteristically high. "Ready to give up?"

Weiss didn't reply, pouring another drink of water to try and take away the pain. It wasn't making so much a dent.

"Weiss has made a play for the lead, but will she be able to maintain it?"

Her gamble had definitely not paid off and by the time Weiss was able to start on her third wing, Yang was already halfway through it. Weiss could feel her heart racing as she tried to work her way through the flame but to no avail. Already she knew that she wasn't going to be able to catch up.

Finishing up, Weiss dropped the bones into the empty dish, staring miserably at her three remaining wings. **The Sauce** was beating her but it would be Yang, once again, who would be punishing her for her hubris.

Yang's eyes were watering and probably hadn't noticed that she was a full wing ahead at this point. Judging from the look of pity on Nora's face, she had noticed that this race was pretty much over.

Fuck that.

Picking up the next wing, Weiss tore into it with her fingers, pulling off the meat and dropping it onto her napkin. Making sure it was clean of meat, Weiss picked up the next wing, stripping it just like the last, adding it to the pile before repeating it with final wing.

The pile of chicken was large and slick with the thick black sauce and Weiss paused wondering if what she was about to do was really worth it. Yang was staring at her, her fifth wing halfway to her mouth.

"Uhh, you know you have to eat that for it to count, right Weiss?"

Yup, totally worth it.

Grabbing the pile of chicken, Weiss shoved it into her mouth, forcing herself to ignore the molten lava it felt like. Eyes watering she started to chew, as fast as she could. Nora and Yang were both staring at her open mouthed and Weiss made near unintelligible noises of pain and torment.

Oh god, this was not worth it. This was pain like she had never imagined. Weiss shimmied in her seat, dancing around in a futile attempt to distract herself from the spicy sensation. At some point Yang remembered she was still in this competition and started to make a desperate bid to finish first.

But it was too late.

Weiss swallowed, opening her mouth to show Nora that she had finished everything. Glancing quickly at the wings in almost disbelief, Nora barely managed to say.

"Weiss wins."

Falling back in her chair, Weiss breathed out, just happy it was over. Sad as it may seem, that might be the hardest thing she had ever done. Figuring her grace was pretty much gone at this point, Weiss grabbed the jug and started to chug. The pain was excruciating and it made Weiss almost forget why she had even done this.

Yang however, had not forgotten. She was leaning on the table, her head in hands too shell shocked to even register her fingers were wiping sauce into her hair. And then suddenly she snapped up, lurching across the table at Weiss.

"You know I was just kidding, right Weiss?" Yang said, practically pleading with her. "I was never going to make you bald or anything like that. It was just a joke. I would probably just style it a little. Maybe not even that. Heh heh. You're not going to ruin my hair, right Weiss?"

* * *

The news travelled fast, mostly because of Nora... well, entirely because of Nora. She hadn't even used the group chat and had texted everyone individually, she had just been so excited. By the time that the conversation had moved to the group chat, Yang had been- unsurprisingly- rather quiet. It was no secret that Yang took great pride in her hair and while no one really expected Weiss to make her bald, it was rather funny to send pictures of bald people.

Ruby even managed to photoshop concept art of a bald Yang and when texting Weiss later that day, she told her that Yang had made an audible whimper when she had seen it.

All and all it was rather hard to feel sympathy for Yang with most of the group having suffered under one of her forfeits from a lost bet. Only Pyrrha and Blake had really tried to offer her some comfort and console her that Weiss knew where the line was.

At least, they hoped she did but when Weiss messaged them all asking them to come to Beacon after work the next day, Pyrrha would later admit to being slightly... concerned.

The group arrived at Beacon to an odd sigh, to say the least. The tables that usually sat in the middle of the room had been pushed to the side and a single chair had been placed in its stead. Around that chair, six of the higher stools had been placed on a horse shoe formation like some elaborate courtroom.

And on that single chair sat Yang.

The rest of them were ushered into the stool by Nora and Ruby who had both been working with Weiss that day. Only when everyone sat down and Nora had hushed them quiet, did Weiss herself enter the room.

She had changed out of her work uniform, having wanted to be more comfortable as she played out this show. Dressed in jeans, a pale blue tank top and white blazer, along with her heels and a black folder she held to her chest as she walked between Yang and the court.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," she began. "You are here today, because you have all suffered under the tyranny of Yang Xiao Long."

"Whether it be having to eat cat food,"

Blake scowled.

"Dressing in drag,"

Jaune went red.

"Getting gunged,"

Ruby shivered in disgust.

"Or being given a tattoo,"

Weiss herself shot Yang a look. To be honest she didn't even mind the tattoo anymore. In fact, the only reason she didn't like it was because of Yang's obnoxious message and her own pride. The design itself was actually quite nice.

"Now perhaps, we ourselves are to blame. Perhaps it is our own hubris and overconfidence that led to our misfortune. Perhaps our punishments were just and deserved."

Reaching the end of the row, Weiss turned and began to walk back down the row.

"But if that is the case, then Miss Xiao Long's own punishment is not only deserved but also overdue."

"Oh come on," Yang said. "This is ridiculous. I'm not going to back out but you guys all agreed to the bets. I didn't force you into anything so quit being so dramatic."

Weiss ignored her and started to unpack the folder, taking out several photographs.

"As victims of Miss Xiao Long's forfeits," she continued. "I felt it only right that you not only bear witness but get to share in picking her punishment. Last night I added you all to a separate group from Yang and explained the situation for the victim's benefit."

She held up the pictures but kept them covered.

"Here I have narrowed down the final options for Yang's new look. I shall show you them in turn and then you will all message me to give me your vote. The highest style wins."

"Guys, have I ever told you how much I appreciate all of you?" Yang said quickly.

"You could stand to say it more," Blake said raising an eyebrow. "And you could also give me back the book I let you borrow."

"I haven't finished it yet."

"It's been a year."

"I'm a slow reader!"

"Enough," Weiss said. "We don't have all day, and the salon closes in a hour." She paused suddenly. "Though I suppose we could do it ourselves."

"Ooo, Ooo," Nora said waving her hand. "Ren could do it. He can cut carrots into flowers like those fancy restaurants. That has to be way harder than hair."

"There are some knives in the back," Ren said as Yang scowled at him.

"Ren, we haven't even made a bet before."

Ren just shrugged as Weiss began again.

"Our first choice," Weiss said, holding up one of the photos. "is the mullet."

Yang's eyes widened in shock and it took all of Weiss's self-control not to burst out laughing. Oh it was only going to get worse. Her friends began to murmur between themselves as they talked over the choice.

"Our second choice," she continued. "is the classic monk."

At this Yang actually gagged.

"I am not letting you do that to me."

"Our third choice is the rainbow Afro."

"Oh I didn't realise Weiss could dye her hair," Pyrrha said.

"Fourthly," Weiss said, as Yang started to go very pale. "is the Jaune Arc."

"Hey!"

"And finally," Weiss said, flipping over the photo with a flourish. "the Mohawk."

Weiss tried not to grin too hard as she watched the group talk over the options. At this point Yang wasn't even protesting, seemingly resigning herself to terrible hair. It was a sad day when the best you could hope for was a mullet.

Maybe she was overdoing this just a little but when it was all done, she was sure Yang would forgive her... probably. Maybe she should watch the haircut via Skype. You know, for safety.

Her scroll buzzed, indicating the votes were coming in. Yang sat bolt upright at the noise, staring at Weiss' scroll in rigid apprehension. A few minutes later, the votes were all in, delayed as Nora considered her options to every possible degree just to draw out the torture.

"So," Yang said, trying and failing to be chipper. Her fidgeting hands gave it away. "What's the damage?"

Weiss didn't answer, flicking through the messages of her scroll to see the votes. Then she smiled.

"Oh Yang, when I got my tattoo, did you let me see what it was before or did I have to wait until after it was done?"

* * *

The rest of the group were allowed to leave at that point as Weiss thought that it would be weird if they all crowded into a hair salon to watch Yang get her new style. Weiss didn't want any reason that the stylist might refuse.

Weiss had called ahead the day before just to make sure they would still cut Yang's hair if she was so clearly against it. For the most part, it was a solid no but after Ruby suggested dropping Yang's name, they found an ex who was more than willing after Weiss had explained the plan.

"Honestly Yang, is there anyone in this town who you haven't dated?"

So now it was just Weiss, Yang, Blake and Ruby as, to Nora's bitter disappointment, Ren had taken her home. Jaune and Pyrrha had been okay to miss it, but had asked to be updated. So the three of them were crammed around Yang's chair while Weiss explained what Yang would be getting to her.

At this point, Weiss was grateful Blake had come. The Faunus was Yang's best friends and was working hard to console her and keep calm. And hey, should Yang snap, there would be one extra person between them.

"Calm down," Blake said. "It will grow back."

"Well, what if it doesn't."

Blake just looked at the blonde.

"Yeah okay, that was dumb." Yang fidgeted under the sheet. "Come on Blake. Tell me which one they picked. Was it the monk? Please tell me it wasn't the monk." Blake's poker face was unreadable. "Oh god it's the monk."

"Yang," Blake said calmly. "It's not the monk."

"Spoilers," Ruby said, bouncing around the chair. "Oh you should have seen Uncle Qrow's face when I got Weiss' text on the way back from Patch. He almost crashed the car laughing. He says to send him a pic when you're finished."

Weiss listened to them talk absentmindedly as she and the hairdresser worked out how they were going to do this. Apparently, it was against company policy to let members of the public help cut hair. Ridiculous really, Weiss only wanted to do the first cut.

Eventually Weiss relented, letting the hairdresser past to start her work. Yang tensed up as she approached, her eyes fixed on the scissors in her hands up until the point they vanished out of her line of sight. At that point, her resolve seemed to break and she resorted to just covering her eyes with her hands. Ruby giggled turning to Weiss.

"Have I ever said you're the best girlfriend ever?"

"Because she's tormenting your sister?" Yang mumbled through her hands.

"Yup," Ruby replied pulling out her scroll to film.

They all fell silent as the hairdresser gave the signal she was about to begin. Yang inhaled deeply as her near waist length hair was pulled back into a ponytail in the hairdresser's hands. It was so thick and plentiful that she seemed to be struggling to hold it in one hand and eventually she resorted to just taking the left hand side first, pulling it out in pigtails so the scissors would fit around it.

And then in one sharp snip, almost a foot of blonde hair hit the floor as Yang let out a whimper.

"That is a lot of hair," Weiss said.

"And that's only one side," Blake said.

"Yeah," Ruby said gleefully. "And this is just to make it manageable for when she gets the actual style."

"I hate all of you," Yang said, her voice a lot higher than usual.

Her eyes were still covered as she refused to see the damage until the end. That was fine by Weiss. It would only make the reaction more potent.

The hairdresser continued to work, humming happily to herself, ignoring all of Yang's inhuman noises of distress. She worked quickly, the scissors moving around so swiftly it was actually quite impressive. At one point, she started the electric razor even though she had no intention of actually using it on Yang.

The guttural noise that Yang made was enough to make even Blake snort to suppress her giggles.

All too soon however, it was all over. The sheet was pulled off Yang and she was dusted down a little to get the excess hair off of her. (And there was a lot of hair.) All the while, Yang's face remained in her hands as she sat as though she was comatose, even after the hairdresser had walked away.

"Yang," Weiss said quietly. "It's over now..."

Slowly, Yang began to move. Without speaking, she pried her hands from her face, her eyes widening as she stared down at all the hair now on the floor. Her mouth opened and closed before she finally was able to force her head up to look in the mirror, bracing herself for the horror of her own scalp.

Only to find her own reflection staring back at her, sporting a short but fairly fashionable and pretty chin level bob. Weiss couldn't suppress a satisfied smirk at the surprised look on Yang's face. Ruby was giggling to herself and Blake had a small smile.

"Oh," Yang said. "It's..."

She trailed off and Weiss took that as her cue.

"Honestly Yang, did you really think we would actually give you any of those haircuts? What do you take us for?" She said with a scoff. "I just told everyone last night that this is what you would be getting but to come along and mess with you a little. Surprisingly, no one objected."

"Sorry Yang," Blake said sheepishly. "But it was kinda funny to watch you squirm for once."

Weiss grinned.

"Yes giving you an actual nice haircut and making you think it would be hideous was way more fun than just giving you a hideous haircut. And a lot less cruel." Weiss noticed that Yang still hadn't said anything. "So... what do you think?"

"It's so-" Yang said. "It's so short."

* * *

After the shock wore off, Yang eventually admitted that the bob wasn't half bad and that Weiss had got her good. Weiss had gone home rather pleased with herself, the whole idea going off even better than she had hoped. Yang had even messaged in their group chat to good naturedly tell everyone they were fired for ganging up on her.

Winter had even commented on her good mood, saying she looked even more pleased with herself than usual, something that Weiss took objection to. Even worse had been when Winter had asked if the reason was because Ruby had been around.

However, Yang's forfeit did backfire a little of Weiss, as when she had been texting Ruby that night, Ruby had told her that Yang had endured a lot of teasing from their Dad and Uncle, who had just happened to visit.

So when Weiss had turned up to work the next day and saw that Yang was wearing a black beanie, the heiress figured she might not have the best shift.

Sure enough, Yang had abused her power as manager that shift and Weiss managed to somehow end up all the worst jobs. Taking out the bins, spending an hour doing stock check in the freezer and cleaning out the bottom fridges. Needless to say, by the time it was getting close to lunch Weiss was tired, sweaty and felt gross.

"You look gross," Blake said, turning the page of her book as Weiss half leaned, half collapsed against the counter.

"Kill me."

"Let me finish my chapter."

"How is this fair?" Weiss moaned. "You were in on it too, yet you have time to read and you get to smell like vanilla, not garbage."

Blake smiled, turning back to her book as Yang jumped up next to them.

"Up and at 'em Weiss," Yang said cheerfully. "Don't want to look bad in front of the customers."

Weiss looked up and groaned before collapsing back down.

"There's one group here and they come here more than I do, I think we'll be okay." She scowled at the blonde. "And you're a poor loser."

"In my defense, I don't get a lot of practice."

"Next time you're getting the monk."

Yang stuck out her tongue before going back to her staring, letting out a content sigh that made Weiss raise her eyebrow. Blake frowned as well, looking up from her book before rolling her eyes.

"And you're staring at her again."

"Do you go to museums to not look at art," Yang said, moving her head.

"What's this?" Weiss asked, her head still on the counter. "Who are you staring at?"

"Coco," Yang said dreamily, before going slightly red as Blake gave her a look. "I- uh... I may have looked at her card name one time... or a few times."

"You're unbelievable," Blake said.

"It's not my fault," Yang said. "She's intimidating, it's hard to look at her sometimes."

At this point, Weiss decided that she had to see who had Yang so enraptured. This was the girl who openly checked out every girl at their work minus her sister.

Looking over the counter, Weiss got a better look at the group who had been coming to Beacon so often. The Faunus drew her eye first, the rabbit ears on her head standing upright as she listened quietly to her friends. She looked fairly timid, leaning on the large boy's shoulder comfortably but like she could bolt at any second.

The larger boy (and large was an understatement), looked more comfortable and the near definition of stoic. Weiss would guess the two of them were probably dating, though the logistics of a physical relationship between the two...

The red headed guy seemed to be mid argument with the other girl. Not a bad one by any extent, more like the ones that Weiss would have with Nora or Yang. From the times they had been in here, Weiss could remember that he was blind though he walked with enough confidence it was hard to really tell.

And then there was the object of Yang's ogling, Coco apparently. Weiss could see why Yang liked her. She was really quite gorgeous and not everyone could wear a beret and not look like a pretentious hipster. She seemed to be the leader of the group, or at least was the loudest.

"Yang I've never seen you intimated by anyone," Blake said. "And you once dated a girl for months, that I never heard speak and had literal crazy eyes."

"I did not date her for months."

"Counting the times you went back to her?"

Yang groaned.

"Okay yes, it was stupid, you were right and she was bad for me. Happy now?"

"Yes," Blake said making Weiss grin. "So what's so special about this girl?"

Yang sighed, holding up her face with her hands.

"She's really pretty."

At this, Weiss scoffed, Blake rolled her eyes and the rabbit Faunus's ears twitched. All three of Beacon's workers froze.

"Uhh..." Weiss said. "Do you think she can hear us?"

"No of course not," Yang said, nervously. "Right Blake... right Blake?"

"Yeah," Blake said, not sounding confident. "I mean, she could have if she was paying attention... No, there's no way."

Despite her words, they all spoke a little quieter after that.

"It's not just that she's hot," Yang said. "She just seems really nice. I mean, look at her friends. Someone like her could be friends with anyone but she's friends with a blind guy and a faunus. It seems like she really cares about who they are, not what they are."

"You're reading too much into this," Weiss said. "But if you like her so much, why don't you do talk to her?"

"With this hair?" Yang scoffed. "No thank you. I don't need that rejection."

Before Weiss could reply that she was being ridiculous, Coco stood up from the table and started to walk over to the counter, making their group scramble to look busy. Well Weiss and Yang scrambled, Blake just went back to her book.

"Hi there," Yang said, smiling. "Can I get you anything else?"

"Just another coffee please," she said. "And let me pay for the others before they can complain."

Yang nodded, probably not trusting herself to speak. Weiss made the coffee, most of her focus still on Yang as the blonde tried and failed to make smooth conversation.

"Uhh... so," Yang said, before clearing her throat. "Got any plans for today?"

"Not really," Coco said with a shrug. "Though I hear there are some good museums around here." She grinned over her sunglasses. "Perks of being friends with a Faunus."

At this, Weiss almost burned herself, jerking the coffee cup to the side in shock. She looked over to Blake to see the Faunus griping her book very tightly and glancing Yang she could see the blonde had visibly paled

"Oh god you heard that," Yang said. "I am so sorry. It was completely inappropriate and I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Here let me pay for drinks."

Coco laughed waving off Yang's offer.

"Don't worry about it, not every day that someone calls you an art piece." She paused for a moment. "Though I suppose you could buy me a coffee if you really wanted to."

"Yes, absolutely. I- what?"

Weiss couldn't believe it. No way was this really happening.

"I know this great cafe," Coco continued. "I like going here because they have this superhot blonde working there." The brunette suddenly looked up over Yang's shoulder. "The only problem is that the other waitresses are really nosey."

Realising that she hadn't moved in about five minutes, Weiss winced, quickly finishing off Cocos drink and passing it over with a weak smile even as Yang glared at her. Blake had already made a hasty exit by this point leaving Weiss alone to weather Yang's ire.

"Thank you Weiss," Yang said, through gritted teeth before now smiling back at Coco. "I'm Yang by the way."

"I know," Coco said before blushing slightly. "I... uh, read your name tag."

"I'm sure that's what you were looking for on my chest."

"Oh absolutely, love the new hair by the way."

Weiss had to resist the urge to face-palm, as she hurried back to the kitchen to give them privacy now she had been caught. Dear god, now there were two of them. Still, she couldn't be too annoyed. Weiss had seen Yang with a few girls in the time she had known her and if she was going to be happy with anyone, she would need someone who could keep up with her.

And from the looks of it, Coco might just be that girl.

* * *

 **Meanwhile in a Parallel Universe**

Weiss sat at her dinner table sulking. Her sister didn't say anything, though Weiss had caught her looking more than twice. Not that Weiss could really blame her sister, the young heiress looked absolute ridiculous. So ridiculous in fact, Weiss wasn't even sure if Yang's teasing of making her bald would have been that much worse.

And she had really thought she was going to win in the end.

"So how long do you need to keep it like this?" Winter asked after five minutes of silence.

"I don't want to talk about it!"

Winter raised her hands in surrender going back to her food with a small smirk on her face that she was failing to hide. Not wanting to look at her sister (with her hair being a cruel reminder of what she had lost) Weiss accidentally caught her reflection in the window and glared at the hot pink and neon green pigtails she now sported.

It was going to be a long month.


	27. Chapter 27

The sun was getting close to its summit. Although it was a beautiful day and the beach was wonderful, Weiss was wondering why she was standing in the sand with Blake and Yang. Ruby had been vague in her instructions, just saying it was about the Vytal festival.

The other two seemed to know but neither was saying much about it. Weiss suspected their silence was just to annoy her as they were doing everything they could not to talk about why Ruby had arrived with a filled backpack and a bag in each hand all nearly bursting with supplies.

"Okay Team RWBY!"

"I didn't agree to that name," Yang said immediately. "Why not team Yang?"

"That doesn't involve the rest of us," Blake said. "Just you."

"Yeah because RWBY doesn't prioritise one of us."

"Why do we need a name? What are we doing?"

Weiss was promptly ignored and in response to Blake, Yang just shrugged, her short hair blowing slightly in the breeze now she had finally stopped wearing beanies everywhere. Honestly she had overreacted to that. It had been two weeks after all.

"Well it has me in the name and that's the important part."

"The name is final," Ruby shouted before composing herself. "Now as we all know, the Vytal festival is in a few weeks."

Weiss did know this since she had barely seen Winter in the past week. Her sister had been working non-stop and sleeping when she wasn't, aside from the occasional dinner they shared. Weiss wasn't quite sure how she had managed to get this much work, the only possible explanation being that she was taking other people's work... possibly two people's work.

Ruby continued to talk, marching up and down like they were troops on a battlefield. It was almost inspiring.

"Well we're already behind in our training and to make matters worse, the enemy recently let slip they have already started their preparations."

"The enemy?" Weiss said only to find Ruby suddenly in her face. "Uhh, what's happening?"

"The enemy, Weiss. Our two year rivals!" Her silver eyes narrowed. "JNPR."

There was silence between the four girls, broken only by the sounds of birds and the sea. And then Blake sighed.

"Ruby, Weiss moved here before the last festival," the Faunus said. "She has no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh right," Ruby grinned as she scratched her head. "Well the Vytal festival has a competition where you compete in four people teams. Beacon always enters and-"

"JNPR keeps winning," Weiss finished, working out the members.

"Oh god no," Blake said. "They just beat us. Before you there were only three of us so we had to sub in to make up numbers."

"And they always let us down!"

"Sun was good," Blake defended. "With him, I was able to beat Ren and Nora...once."

"In a memory game," Yang snorted. "Hardly Nora's strong suit and they crushed you in the piggy back race."

Blake didn't seem to have an answer to that as her bow twitched above her head.

"For too long, we have been humiliated and made to taste the bitter sting of defeat, but no longer," she proclaimed. "This year we have a secret weapon!"

"What's that?" Weiss asked, before finding all eyes on her. "Oh you can't be serious."

"Why not?" Ruby said. "Do you not want to do it?"

Oh god, she was already doing the puppy dog eyes. Weiss hadn't even said no.

"I didn't say that, I'm just hardly a secret weapon."

"Don't sell yourself short," Yang grinned. "I mean, who doesn't want a pipsqueak who has no physical strength, doesn't do any sports and has no stamina on their team?"

"Thanks Yang."

Weiss scowled at the blonde who just grinned back at her. The fact she was right was, frankly, irrelevant. If this was a physical contest, she really wouldn't be pulling her weight and considering how little she weighed, that was saying something.

Unfortunately, Ruby had gotten into the habit of defending Weiss when she was teased. It was her way of being a good girlfriend and normally Weiss appreciated it but occasionally Ruby put her foot in their mouths.

"Weiss has stamina," Ruby said.

"I did not want to know that," Yang sighed. "That's in my head forever...Great."

"Not like that!"

"Please say you're at least safe about it? And you do it at hers. I don't want to think about that happening a room away."

"I didn't say we were having sex!"

"Gah, don't say that word!"

Weiss watched the two of them shout at each other, wondering if she should intervene. Passersby were starting to stare after all but Blake strolled over to her before she could.

"I notice you're oddly quiet," Blake said while the sisters argued. "I take it that means..."

Weiss went a little red.

"I don't see how that relates to your business but no, we have not." Blake was having none of it. "Don't look at me like that."

"So you're going to look me in the eye and say you haven't done anything."

"Well I mean... I wouldn't say nothing." Weiss looked over to make sure Yang wasn't paying attention. "We just share a bed... and sometimes fool around a little."

"Oh of course," Blake smirked. "So you deflowered the Rose huh."

"Blake, you're better than that."

"Hey it's not like Yang's going to do it, someone has to step up. How often have you been enjoying the Rose Bush?"

"Don't make me go to the pussy material Blake."

"That would be racist," Blake dead panned. "You are a Schnee after all."

"That's hardly fair!"

"You wanna go there?"

"...No."

* * *

Eventually Yang and Ruby calmed down and Ruby started to explain the Vytal festival specifics to her. Anyone could enter and if you wanted you could sign up and be assigned a team and those teams were usually fodder according to Ruby. They wouldn't be an issue since they lacked team cohesion and fighting spirit. Those teams just wanted to have fun, Ruby had decried with no irony.

The actual contest took place over the course of two days with a break between them so contestants could enjoy the rest of the festival. The games changed each year but generally tended to be physical in nature and fairly simple. Sometimes teams would all compete, sometime it was just one or two members. It all depended on the game so a balanced team was essential.

Each game got the team points depending on how well they did and the top three teams got prizes but they weren't expecting to get up there. The best the Beacon teams had done was place in sixth and that was JNPR last year.

Oh, and to make things interesting, they usually made a bet.

"Of course you do," Weiss sighed. "Why am I not surprised?"

"It's not that bad. It's not a Yang bet."

"Hey!"

"Last year we just had to get our face painted," Ruby said. "It's just a thing to keep it interesting."

"We all agree to it before it starts," Blake said. "Keeps it safe, considering we've lost both times... maybe we should drop it."

"That might be smart," Yang said, distracted by her scroll.

She had been texting all morning, Weiss had noticed. Probably something to do with Coco, though she couldn't be sure. Despite having their first date over a week ago, Yang had been uncharacteristically quiet. Yang wouldn't normally shout about her relationships but she was never private about it.

"No, if anything we should make it even worse to make up for the last two years," Ruby said. "It's time they have a taste of their own medicine."

"But if we set the bet with them, isn't it our medicine too?" Weiss asked.

"That's not the point!"

"Can we get to the point?" Yang asked. "Not to rush you or anything."

"Got somewhere to be, huh," Blake asked, coyly. "Where are you taking her today?"

"She's uh..."

The blonde turned a little pink, before mumbling under her breath so no one could hear. Blake smiled, eager to get back on Yang for a lot of teasing in the past.

"What was that?"

"She's taking me for a drive."

"Oh how romantic."

"Shut up."

Weiss was starting to see why this team had lost to JNPR two years in a row. A lack of focus. Perhaps Weiss might have no prior investment in this competition but if it was important to Ruby, Weiss would find a way for them to win. Even if that meant spending her free time doing what was no doubt going to be a ridiculous training scheme.

"Okay," Weiss said. "I suppose we should get on with this then but if we don't know what the games are, how do we practise?"

Ruby grinned, flashing her a look of gratitude. Both Blake and Yang agreed to tone it down, though Yang insisted she be gone by two to meet Coco. This was apparently plenty of time, for now anyway, and Ruby eagerly started rummaging through her bag of gear.

Starting to feel nervous, Weiss wondered if she had walked into another situation like her Beacon balance training. Ruby had a lot in the bags and each thing she pulled out seemed stranger than the last, though Ruby had put a lot of thought into all of it and had a reason for everything.

Rope - Three legged race

Basin - Bobbing for something (apples were too simple)

Blindfold - Blind maze

Buckets - Bucket relay races were apparently the worst

Towels - Bucket relay races really were the worst

And the list went on and on. In the end, Blake suggested they just try one thing at a time and see how they got on. A sensible decision in Weiss's mind despite Yang's idea to do it all at once to see what would happen. Ruby agreed and soon they were getting set up for a three legged race.

* * *

"Ruby, slow down!"

"This is a race, Weiss!"

"This is practice an-"

Weiss stumbled slightly, tripping and falling to sand and pulling Ruby with her. They landed in a heap, the rope loosening but not quite coming untied. Still bound at the leg, Weiss groaned as she sat up in time to watch Blake and Yang cross their makeshift finish line.

"I told you I wouldn't be good at this," she grumbled, helping Ruby up. "You're too fast for me."

"But I'm too small for the others," Ruby sighed. "I guess they'll have to do it then."

"If it even comes up."

"Yeah I suppose." Ruby seemed slightly disappointed. "When you fell did you eat a bunch of sand?"

"...Yes."

* * *

The next challenge was much more to Weiss's strength. A blind maze with Ruby blindfolded and being directed by the other three. They had drawn the maze in the sand so Ruby couldn't see it and were now doing their best to guide her through it.

Easy, really. They were allowed to walk around her so it would be a simple matter to direct her. All it required was organisation and a cool head. Weiss was sure this would be a breeze.

So of course, they were at this for fifteen minutes now and what should have been simple communication had turned into an unintelligible mess of shouting.

"Ruby, take a step to your left."

"How much is a step?"

"That's a good question."

"No it's not. It's a step. It's obvious."

"Well I could step pretty far if I wanted."

"Just an ordinary step."

"Not that far!"

"Okay that wasn't far enough."

"Well which is it? Who am I meant to be listening to?"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"What does your heart tell you?"

"Yang, that's not helping!"

"Honestly I've just been trying to direct you into the sea for about five minutes."

"I wish Weiss had made you bald!"

"Can we please just try the next one!"

* * *

"You know this does seem more fun."

Yang shot Weiss a look of annoyance as she put on the goggles to protect her eyes. Really only Ruby's puppy dog eyes had been able to convince Yang to do this and that was still begrudgingly. Weiss couldn't blame her but she was hardly going to volunteer after learning the rules.

"I disagree," Yang almost growled. "Why am I doing this? I have the best aim."

"Second best," Blake said, casually.

"Exactly," Ruby said, passing her a can. "You don't need practise, and you have the best balance."

"Second best."

"You just don't want to throw cupcakes at your girlfriend," Yang shot back. "And somehow Blake gets a pass."

"At least you're first for something."

How this was a game, Weiss wasn't quite sure but the others had said they did this last year. The closest equivalent seemed to be shooting an arrow off someone's head which for obvious safety reasons, Weiss could see why they avoided.

Scowling, Yang placed the can on top of her head and stood straight, keeping it balanced with a little effort, her shorter hair now working in her favour. Ruby walked the others back about four meters and drew a line in the sand. As she was pulling out a box of very cheap looking cupcakes, a thought occurred to Weiss.

"Wait, how do they stop Yang from just dropping the can. Shouldn't it be really easy to knock it off her head even if we miss?"

Ruby shook her head, handing a box of four to both Blake and Weiss. Blake took hers rather eagerly, Weiss noticed.

"No, you're getting it a little mixed up," Ruby said stepping up to the plate. "We have to hit her as much as we can without knocking off the can."

Ahh, Weiss couldn't help but smile a little. Well this should be fun. Opening up the box, she picked out the one with the most icing. Then she watched Yang scrunch up her face as Ruby threw.

* * *

Yang managed to last through two rounds of being pelted before calling it and attacking back with the cupcakes around her. After a brief food fight (one day they would go somewhere without being stared at) and Yang cleaning off (towels were always useful), they moved onto the next idea. A wheelbarrow race which brought up a problem for Weiss who, having no idea what they would be doing, hadn't quite dressed accordingly.

"I am not being the barrow!"

"But you and Ruby are the smallest," Yang said. "It makes the most sense."

"I don't care. I'm the only one wearing a skirt and I refuse to flash the entire beach."

"I doubt Ruby would mind."

"Blake!" Weiss, Ruby and Yang yelled as one.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't realise that ass jokes were off the table. I'll try to remember that when someone calls me Bellabooty."

"...Touché," Ruby said and Yang's eyes lit up.

"More like tooshy."

"Yang just- ugh," Ruby groaned. "It's fine Weiss, you can just be the runner for Blake."

Blake and Weiss shared a look and much to Weiss's chagrin, Blake did not seem confident.

"Yeah that's not going to work."

"And what does that mean."

"No offence Weiss but you're built like a stick."

Weiss let out an indignant cry.

"It's a wheelbarrow race. Children do it. I think I can manage it."

Not wanting to catch Weiss's ire, Blake stopped protesting holding up her hands in surrender and getting into position. Ruby copied her, lying next to her so that Yang could lift her legs up.

"Come on Weiss," Yang said. "Up and at 'em."

With a mock smile, Weiss knelt down and tried to lift Blake's legs, succeeding and only letting out a few strained noises. Incidentally this meant she was now staring directly at Blake's rear and finally understood Blake's begrudging nickname.

"You okay Weiss?"

"I'm fine," she grunted. "Absolutely great."

"Well you sure know how to make a girl feel great about herself," Blake muttered. "Looks like I'm back to salads."

Laughing, Yang and Ruby readied themselves for the race. Not that they really had to, Weiss wasn't sure she would make it five feet.

"Get ready," Ruby said. "Set."

Weiss started running and Blake seemed to have a similar idea, not missing a beat and managing to keep her balance as her hands ran along the sand. Behind them Ruby shouted in protested.

"Cheaters!"

* * *

When Weiss fell (again) and almost twisted Blakes wrist, they decided to call it at day. Yang tried to stay and help clean up but with how often she checked the time on her scroll, they told her to just go and get ready for her date. To her credit Yang did protest but left soon after they insisted.

"I'll make it up to you guys."

"Well isn't she just giddy as a school girl?" Blake said with a smile. "Hope it's worth it."

"Jealous Blake?" Ruby asked, surprising Weiss a little. Bringing up one of their groups crushes was kinda taboo and while Ruby hadn't quite done it, it did feel they were dangerously close. Fortunately, Blake managed to share Weiss' and Jaune's awareness when it came to crushes.

"Why would I be jealous?"

Sometimes Weiss wondered if there was something in the world that made someone utterly dense when they were unwittingly the subject of someone's affection. And she wouldn't even be able to exclude herself from that effect. Looking back, Weiss wasn't quite sure how she missed Ruby liking her.

Then again, she wasn't quite sure how she had missed Ruby's legs before they started dating. Now though... Weiss was starting to appreciate why their work skirts were so short.

Ruby grinned at Blake's response.

"Oh you know, you're not the hot young couple anymore. You and Sun are old news."

"That's a good point, think I should trade him in for a younger model?"

"No point," Ruby said throwing her arms around Weiss's neck before she could stop her. "I got the best on the market."

In vain, Weiss struggled to break out from Ruby's grasp as Blake watched on amused. For such a small girl, Ruby was surprisingly strong... or perhaps Weiss should actually take Yang up on her offer of going to the gym.

"Ruby, let go of me."

"I would but you're too attractive."

"Oh god." Weiss groaned finally able to escape as Ruby giggled at her own joke. "Please don't do Yang jokes."

Blake shook her head at their antics.

"On second thoughts I'll stick with mine. Yours seems like too much maintenance."

"Hey!"

Packing up her own things, Blake shot Weiss a smile before checking her scroll, frowning at what she saw.

"Ah, that's later than I wanted."

"Do you have plans?" Weiss asked but Blake shook her head.

"No I just have a report due and haven't finished it yet."

"Ew, school work," Ruby said while scrunching up her face. "That's the worst, Weiss and I are going to watch the Lion King."

"Oh really?"

Weiss felt herself going pink and she tried to avoid Blake's amused smirk. It felt juvenile to her but Ruby had been very insistent. Ruby seemed to be oblivious to her slight embarrassment or perhaps just didn't care.

"Yup," Ruby said popping the P. "Weiss has never seen it."

"You've never seen the Lion King."

"Not the film." It was slightly Weiss's turn to smirk at the jealous look Blake now sported. She knew that would bother Blake. "Once you've seen the play, the films seem kinda small."

"Did your butler take you?" Blake asked.

"No."

It was a lie of course. Klein been the only reason she could go after both her parents had been busy. He hadn't even been asked to take her, but he had seen that she wanted to go. He has always been good to her and Winter.

"Well you too have fun," Blake said. "I'm going to spend the next four hours writing essays until Sun rescues me. I'll see you both later."

"Bye Blake," Ruby waved before linking up their arms. "Come on Weiss, let's go."

With a sigh, Weiss took Ruby's hand and the two of them began to walk back toward Weiss's flat. With Winter working it made the most sense to watch this at her place and gave her the advantage of knowing they were watching a kids film.

"Ooo, we should stop and get candy for the movie," Ruby said excitedly.

It was official. Weiss was dating a three year old.

* * *

Okay, so that had been a lot better than Weiss had expected to be. The Lion King was actually a really good movie and Weiss could see why so many people like it, particularly Ruby. It probably helped that Ruby had quickly slipped behind her and Weiss had spent most of the film as Ruby's little spoon, occasionally feeding Weiss gummy bears.

Weiss would be hard pressed to hate any movie in this position.

"So," Ruby asked, sliding out from behind Weiss to look at her. "Did you like it?"

"It was okay," Weiss said, dryly. "I suppose anyway."

The platinum haired girl worked hard to stop herself from giggling at Ruby's reaction. Ruby was looking at her in utter disbelief, practically gawking at her.

"What? How can you say it's okay. It's incredible!"

"The music was nice."

"Nice! Nice!" Ruby looked like she was about to have an aneurysm. "The songs are amazing."

"I could tell, I'm pretty sure you started crying at one point."

The only reason Weiss hadn't cried herself was years of emotional training. It also helped that her father was nothing like Simba's, probably more like Scar.

"I like the songs okay. They speak to me because I'm sensitive," Ruby said sticking out her tongue. "You're just like Zazu."

"I am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too. You're just a big dumb bird who doesn't appreciate amazing films."

Ruby huffed turning her back on Weiss over dramatically. Weiss could tell that Ruby wasn't really upset but she still felt a little bad that she couldn't just say she liked something. She had to act cool.

In an effort to make it up to her, Weiss slid her arms around the girl's stomach and rested her head on Ruby's shoulder.

"Ruby."

"Hmm?"

"I did like it."

"Really?"

"Yes. It was very good."

Ruby smiled, making Weiss melt just a little. The younger girl draped her arms over Weiss's shoulder, linking her hands behind her neck. At this point, it was taking all Weiss's power not to stare at Ruby's chest, seeing as Ruby had changed into her red tank top.

"What bits?" she said tilting her head slightly as she teased Weiss.

"Ruby."

"Hmm?"

"You, ugh-" Weiss said as Ruby began to giggle. "You are such a brat sometimes."

"Nope, I'm just trying to get the stick out your butt."

"Hey."

"Oh I'm sorry." Ruby cleared her throat before doing her best Weiss impression. "I'm just attempting to extract that tree limb for your derrière."

Weiss raised her eyebrow only to find Ruby had beaten her too it, mimicking the heiress' trademark disapproving look. Finding herself slightly outwitted, Weiss resorted to distraction.

"You have a strange fascination with my derrière, as you put it." Immediately, Weiss felt Ruby's hand leave her shoulders. "Oh no you don't."

Too late, Weiss let out a slight squeak as Ruby gave her behind a small squeeze. Not that she should be too surprised, Ruby was a very hands-on girlfriend.

"You do have a great butt," Ruby said. "Despite the presence of a stick."

"Well I'm glad you approve of my ass," Weiss muttered, before smiling herself. "Nice to know you're the shallow one in this relationship. I'm here for your personality and you just want my body."

"Yup," Ruby said, before grabbing Weiss in a hug and pulling Weiss down with her so they were both lying on the couch.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm tired," Ruby said. "Can we just lie here for a bit?"

Like she even had to ask.

"I suppose so," Weiss said, returning the hug herself. "Just for a bit though. I don't want Winter jumping to conclusions."

Ruby giggled, nodding into Weiss's chest. Suddenly rather tired herself, Weiss decided to rest her eyes a little. Just for a bit anyway. The RWBY training was rather exhausting after all. A little nap in Ruby's arms could hardly be considered a bad thing.

* * *

"Weiss."

The voice seemed to be far away but slowly getting closer. Weiss groaned, protesting against the intrusion into her peaceful dreams. But she protested in vain as the voice continued to talk to her.

"Weiss."

Opening her eyes, Weiss blinked back against the light and looked up to the source of the voice, her sister. Winter stood over her, smiling slightly smugly though Weiss couldn't work out why, her brain still half off.

And then Weiss remembered, she was still holding Ruby who had yet to wake up.

"Enjoying yourself?" Winter asked.

And to make it worse, Ruby reacted to the noise, snuggling even closer to Weiss and Weiss felt herself going scarlet. Trying to be subtle, Weiss started to nudge Ruby who just groaned in protest.

"Winter," she said, trying and failing to be casual. "You're back early."

"No, actually it's about eight. You must have lost track of time." Oh god why couldn't this couch just consume her. "I brought dinner back if you want some."

"That would be great," Weiss said through gritted teeth as she failed to escape Ruby's death hug or wake her. "I'll be with you shortly."

With a nod that promised much teasing later, Winter sauntered away back to the kitchen while Weiss struggled to break free.

"Ruby, wake up."

"Huh. Weiss why is there two of you?" Ruby yawned before her eyes widened. "Oh"

* * *

 **Authors Note**

 **So I finally sat down and planned out the rest of this properly. I always knew what I wanted to do and how it would end but never properly wrote it down. As long as I don't add anything and don't split up chapters, this fic should end about chapter 43.**


	28. Chapter 28

How to describe Coco Adel.

Well she oozed confidence, practically wearing it on her sleeve like one of her many accessories. Fashion was the second thing you noticed about Coco and when you saw how she dressed, that said something about just how confident she really was.

Everything about Coco added to her look. It was a statement about who she was, expressed entirely through fashion. From her hair, a brilliant gradient of brown topped with a beret to tribute her heritage, (Weiss assumed so anyway) right down to her knee length boots so she could strut, never walk.

In a way, she was a lot like Yang but heavy mix of Blake's coolness to balance her out.

Honestly, when Coco and her friends had hung out at Beacon, Weiss had thought she was rather arrogant. Now that they had met, Weiss wasn't exactly sure that she wasn't. It wasn't something she judged her for, Weiss knew how she came across as well but it still meant in the brief times they had met when she was with Yang, it was somewhat off putting. Not wanting to ruin things for Yang, Weiss would just elect to stay quiet.

But that wasn't going to work for much longer as now they had been dating for a few weeks, Yang and Coco wanted their friend groups to get to know each other. Now normal people would suggest the beach, maybe a bar but of course, Yang and Coco weren't normal people.

No Yang had asked Weiss, Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha, (Blake, Nora and Ren were working unfortunately) to meet her at the pier with swimsuits as well as enough food and drink for the day. Only when they were being walked through the pier did Yang explain what they were doing.

"She has a boat?"

Yang winced slightly at Weiss's outburst, before grinning slightly at their assembled ensemble. Scratching her neck nervously, a habit a lot more obvious with her shortened hair.

"It's not her boat per say," she said. "Her parents own a rental company here in Vale so she's just borrowing it for the day so we can use it. It just means we have to be careful with it."

"Is this a bad time to say I get sea sick?"

"Jaune I swear to god, I said you guys were cool."

"Why did you tell her that?"

"Seriously Jaune, do not ruin her boat by going all vomit boy on me."

"Wait, I thought it wasn't her boat," Ruby asked. "I'm confused."

"Ruby!"

"No, it's not her boat," Weiss said. "It's her father's boat."

"Oh my god Weiss, really?"

"Don't worry Yang," Pyrrha said soothingly. "We'll try not to embarrass you."

Yang sighed before taking a deep breath, looking back at them more apologetically.

"You won't. I'm sorry. You guys are great. It's just... I just really like her and I don't want to screw this up."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Just be yourself."

Yang smiled half-heartedly.

"Thanks, Pyr but being me is how I ruin all my other relationships."

"You're being too hard on yourself."

Yang didn't have time to respond, as they turned a corner of the pier and saw Coco and her friends talking next to a boat. A rather large boat, Weiss noticed. Ruby leaned over, whispering in her ear.

"Don't be jealous."

"I am not jealous."

"You're still my favourite billionaire."

"I'm not a billionaire and I'm not jealous."

But seriously, who has a boat?

* * *

It wasn't even that big a boat really. It was only made for twelve people. Weiss had been on much bigger boats than this... oh who was she kidding? Weiss was jealous. It was pathetic and Weiss really thought she had moved past this. Then this morning Weiss had avoided looking at the milk carton because she needed cereal and wasn't sure if it was out of date yet. It had taste fine... mostly.

Weiss liked her life here. She really did. Compared to her old life it wasn't even a contest. Even the parts she had liked at the time, had turned out to be lies. Everyone here was just so much better.

Still though, part of Weiss missed having money. She hated it but it was true, especially since she had started dating Ruby. She hated she couldn't buy things for her without having to think if she could afford it. Ruby deserved more than that and the fact it wouldn't even occur to her was part of the reason.

So yes, Weiss was currently sitting on a speed boat heading away from Vale trying not to pout. God, she was pathetic. Then she felt a bump and Ruby dressed in a red backless one piece bounced onto her lap.

"Hey Weiss, the cabins free if you want to get changed."

Okay, Weiss was over the money. This was way better. Smiling, Weiss linked her hands behind Ruby's shoulders.

"That's a new Baywatch," she said. "When did you get that?"

"Baywatch? Oh, you mean the..." Ruby blushed. "You like it?"

"A little," she said with a smile. "It looks good on you."

"Thanks," Ruby stammered. "So, you going to get changed?"

"You seem awfully eager. You don't even know what I'm wearing yet. It could be hideous for all you know."

"But you would still be wearing it so it would have to look good. That's just math."

"Really?"

"Yup, you know anything times zero is zero?"

"I remember that being mentioned once or twice."

"Well anything times Weiss equals fine."

Weiss laughed, shaking her head as Ruby grinned, proud of her cheesy line attempt at flirting.

"Oh, very smooth, but what about Weiss times zero?"

Ruby didn't even hesitate.

"Pretty sure you in nothing is greater than fine."

"I walked into that one, didn't I?"

Ruby nodded before sliding off Weiss's lap onto the chair next to her. Once seated, she began to push at Weiss.

"Go get changed," she said. "It's not fair that you get to ogle me and I don't get to ogle back."

Standing up, Weiss placed a hand on her chest and let out an indignant noise of faux outrage.

"Ruby Rose, I am a woman of class and elegance. I do not ogle... I merely observe and appreciate."

Weiss smiled to herself as Ruby laughed before making her way to the back of the boat. She could see Vale speeding away from them as they headed to out, the beach side city looking rather nice. Taking a moment to appreciate the view, Weiss then opened the door and entered the cabin.

Well cabin might be pushing it a little. Even Weiss who was shorted than most, still had to duck her head a little. If it started raining, maybe three people could squeeze in and the rest of them would just get wet. Coco had just asked them to use it as storage but it doubled as changing room with Weiss one of the last to use it.

However, Weiss had barely managed to reach into her bag before the door opened again. Looking round, she found it was Coco.

"Hey Weiss, can I talk to you for a minute?"

For a moment, Weiss didn't respond. Something told her that Coco wasn't here for an ice breaker. When she was smiling Cocos, aviators looked great but when she wasn't, like now, it was intimidating.

"Of course," Weiss said. "What's this about?"

Coco moved a little closer to her before sitting down on one of the seats.

"Velvet," Coco said. "I need to know if you have a problem with her."

"Excuse me."

Whatever Weiss had been expecting, it wasn't that. Though now she thought about it, the Faunus had been quiet with her. Weiss had assumed that the girl was just quiet and she was, but Velvet definitely seemed to be more timid around her than anyone else.

"Velvet, do you have a problem with her?"

"No, why would you-" Realisation dawned on her. "You know who I am."

Coco nodded.

"Velvet recognised you and told us when we first started going to Beacon. Do the others know?"

Weiss suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion. In retrospect, she had been lucky to last as long as she had with no one else recognising her. The Blake fiasco had been bad enough, Weiss didn't want to affect Yang's relationships or even end it if Coco felt strongly enough. Still, it was nice to know that Yang hadn't told Coco herself.

Sighing, Weiss sat down herself, positioning herself opposite Coco. Well she mode sunk down, resting her head-on hands.

"Yes, they know, all of them. Blake recognised me too."

"Makes sense," Coco said. "Look, I'm not here to judge but your family has a reputation. I just need to know if this will be an issue."

"I- no. I don't have a problem with Velvet. I don't even know even know her."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah okay." Coco stood up. "Look you're scooping ice cream six days a week so I kinda assumed things were complicated. I just had to make sure Velvets not going to get hurt again. As long as you guys are a nice as you seem to be, we should be cool."

Coco started heading towards the door, opening it up before Weiss replied.

"You realise it's the same for you, right? Don't hurt Yang or it won't just be me you're answering to."

Coco paused at the doorway, her expression unreadable behind her dark glasses. Then she smiled.

"Yeah, we're going to get on fine."

* * *

Despite Cocos confidence on the subject, mingling was going poorly. Actually, to be going poorly it would have to exist and currently each group was sitting on opposite ends of the boat from each other. By the time, Weiss finished getting changed and got back to bow, only Coco and Yang were bridging the gap.

And mostly with each other as Coco showed Yang how to steer the boat. From Weiss's perspective they were sitting rather too close for it to be effective teaching method but hey, it's not like they were going to hit anything out here... wait when Coco had come to talk to her, who had been driving?

Shaking her head, Weiss joined her friends, smirking slightly at the way Ruby seemed to get stuck staring at her for a few moments.

"Close your mouth sweetie," she teased. "You'll catch flies."

Ruby complied, blushing slightly as she scrambled to salvage her dignity. Next to her Pyrrha shook her head slightly. Part of Weiss wanted to tell her to stop though it was the same part that liked Ruby was almost drooling over her. Sure did make her feel sexy.

"Honestly Ruby, you've seen Weiss in this before. It's what she always wears to the beach."

"Yeah but this is the first time as my girlfriend... it's different."

"How's that?" Jaune asked.

"Because now it's all mine," Ruby said with a grin.

Weiss just rolled her eyes before sitting on the edge of the boat between Ruby and Pyrrha. She leaned back staring up through her sunglasses at the bright blue sky. The sun was baking but in a good way and Weiss felt very much content. A moment later and Weiss felt Ruby lean against her and felt even better.

Then a thought occurred to her.

"Did you put sun cream on?"

There was a silence then:

"...Yes."

Weiss sighed, pushing Ruby up and away from her, electing a groan of displeasure from her girlfriend. Ruby pushed back, too comfortable where she was to consider moving for something as trivial as sunscreen.

"Weiss," she whined. "It'll be fine."

"You will burn."

Well Weiss would definitely burn. Despite her love for the sun, Weiss did not have the complexion for the heat. Weiss looked good pale, not as red as a tomato. Ruby seemed to accept this, letting Weiss lean forward towards her beach bag.

"What's wrong?"

"...nothing."

Jaune laughed, catching on first with Pyrrha quick behind. The redhead was at least polite enough to cover her mouth to repress her giggles.

"Did you forget something Weiss," Jaune asked.

"No," Weiss said immediately. "I just... can't find it."

"Weiss, how could you be so irresponsible?" Ruby cried out.

"Very funny."

"I'm serious. I'm going to burn now."

Not having a retort, Weiss continue to rummage through her bags until she was finally forced to admit, she had indeed forgotten to pack sunscreen. Annoyed with herself for poor planning, a way to turn this to her advantage occurred to her. After all, Yang had wanted them to get to know Cocos friends.

Shooting back a sarcastic smile at the group of hyenas, Weiss turned to the other side of the boat. The three of them were talking, a lot quieter than her group, Weiss's noticed.

They probably had sunscreen. Both of the guys were shirtless (Weiss was in a relationship, not blind) but Velvet was wearing a sundress and a large hat, her ears poking out through the top. Weiss made a mental note not to stare. She didn't want to send Velvet the wrong message after her talk with Coco.

"Excuse me," Weiss said, the group looking up from their talk. "You don't happen to have any sun cream, do you?"

There was a small pause but Weiss didn't miss the way they all glanced at each other. Weiss couldn't blame them, but still it hurt a little.

"Umm, yes of course," Velvet replied, taking some out of her own bag. "Here you go."

"Thank you. If you all need any drinks or anything, feel free."

She neglected to mention that it was Jaune who had brought their drinks.

"Okay."

Well that was painfully awkward but still the job had been done. First contact had been made and now they should be able to bridge the gap between the two groups. Yang would be happy about that.

Speaking of Yang, as Weiss turned back to Ruby, the engine of the boat cut out and it suddenly turned abruptly, and Weiss stumbled into her seat. It was just luck she didn't land on top of one of them. Or fall overboard.

Adjusting herself back onto her seat, Weiss glared at the front the boat, where the two girls were looking back at their respective groups unabashedly.

"Yang!"

"Coco!" Yatsuhashi chided.

In faux outrage, Coco and Yang each instantly pointed at the other.

"It was her!"

* * *

Coco seemed to have determined that they were far enough out to just drift for a bit. So, after sun screening up, the two groups merged into one. They passed out drinks and over the next hour or so, Weiss learned a little more about Coco and her friends.

"So, you two are together?" Pyrrha asked, receiving a slight, timid nod from Velvet in response. "You seem like a lovely couple."

"Thank you," Yatsuhashi replied. "We've been together a long time."

"Since high school," Velvet replied.

"Yeah Velvet always had such a crush on him," Coco said. "And she was super obvious about it."

"Coco!" The rabbit faunus flushed red. "I was not."

"Velvet," Fox dead panned. "Even I could see it."

Weiss smiled before she could stop herself. She barely knew Fox after all so she wasn't sure if laughing at his joke was appropriate or if it was even intentional. The last thing she needed was everyone thinking she was a callous bitch.

Her doubts were unfounded however, with Coco and Fox laughing as Velvet pulled her hat down over her face. Coco didn't seem to be phased by this however.

"Ooo, can we tell them about the dark room incident."

"I hate all of you," came the muffled reply.

Yatsuhashi smiled slightly, patting her shoulder.

"It was very endearing."

Weiss giggled feeling a little for Velvet. If Coco was anything like Yang (which seemed almost certain) teasing was probably a frequent affair for that group. There was nothing wrong with a little gentle ribbing but all the same, Weiss was somewhat relieved her new friends didn't know about a lot of her high school days.

Aside from being a general bitch and having a terrible social group, being a Schnee had forced certain responsibilities on her. Weiss was glad her friends now had no way of ever finding out about some of the concerts she had performed.

The Valentine's Day song came to mind for terrible song and terrible Cupid costume but that was one of many. If she had her way, they would never find out about any of them.

"Well obviously, it worked out," Yang said before shaking her head. "But man, I can't imagine dating someone for that long."

"That's what I like to hear."

"Uhh, I mean..."

"I'm just teasing babe," Coco said with a grin before frowning. "Wait, what is your longest relationship?"

"Umm..."

"So Coco," Weiss said, rescuing Yang swiftly. "Yang says you're into fashion."

"That's putting it lightly," Fox muttered only to find Cocos hand on his face.

"Shh shh. I'm talking now," Coco said before turning back to Weiss. "But yeah he's pretty much right. I'm pretty dedicated to it. I've been working to get into it properly since high school. It's how I met Velvet. I started a school magazine and needed a photographer."

"What parts interest you?"

"All of it. I like designing but I can take shots pretty well. Not as good as Velvet but good enough. I've also done a little modelling but design is the part I really want to work in. Right now, I just work in a store but I run a blog as well."

"Here that guys," Yang said. "I'm dating a model."

Coco grinned, wrapping her hand around Yang's waist and pulling her closer.

"You know I still have the lights and backdrop from when I did it. Wanna try modelling?"

"Really?"

"Hmm let me think, do I really want to take photos of my hot girlfriend all day." Coco tapped her chin. "Yeah I suppose I can make that sacrifice."

Yang giggled and Weiss had to stop herself from spitting her drink out. Seriously, Yang was giggling now? Exchanging a quick glance with Ruby and it seemed like Ruby was just as surprised as she was.

Yang was normally so confident and cool, almost obnoxiously so sometimes but with Coco, it was like she was dating for the first time. Clearly Yang was head over heels for the fashion queen.

It made Weiss wished she knew Coco better. Their group seemed nice enough and Coco stood up for those she cared about if their talk was anything to go by. But still, Weiss hoped that Yang didn't scare her off. This was only like their third or fourth date after all.

* * *

The talks had continued for a little while longer before the groups split again, though they remained mixed. Jaune and Pyrrha were talking with Velvet, Fox and Yatsuhashi while Coco and Ruby had started discussing sketching. Yang had managed to remain interested (or at least appear that way) but Weiss had left them to it a while ago and was now just sunbathing.

With her sunglasses on, you could be forgiving for thinking that she was sleeping and to be honest Weiss wouldn't be surprised if she had dozed off at one point. It was just so peaceful. The waves rocking the boat like a sweet lullaby.

So of course, it was interrupted.

"Weiss," Ruby sang, bouncing next to her. "Want to go swimming?"

Weiss barely opened her eyes to find Ruby was grinning over.

"I'm okay."

"But it'll be fun. Everyone else is, except Yang and Coco. Apparently, Cocos swimsuit isn't really made for swimming."

"I'm having fun." Weiss pointed at her face before closing her eyes. "See, fun."

Trying to settle herself again, Weiss was interrupted once again, this time by Ruby poking her stomach.

"Weiss."

"Ruby, please. Just go with the others."

"Okay," Ruby said, the disappointment evident in her voice.

Weiss waited a few moments before sitting up. Ruby had wondered over to the back of the boat where the others were swimming about. Her girlfriend looked rather dejected mulling about rather than jumping in.

Sighing, that she was being unintentionally guilt tripped, Weiss slid her feet onto the floor and began to walk after her. She was about to call out but then a mischievous thought entered her mind. Staying quiet, she waited until she was right behind Ruby and placed her hands in Ruby's back.

"Boo," she said.

Ruby let out a slight eep if shock before Weiss gave her a slight shove and the brunette went flying into the water almost crushing Jaune in the process, who happened to be closest. A few moments later, Ruby resurfaced spluttering slightly.

"Weiss!" she said, grinning regardless. "You big meanie."

"You wanted to go swimming," Weiss said with a shrug. "As your girlfriend, I feel it was my duty to help you."

"Well are you coming in or not?"

Weiss smiled, placing a finger on her chin as though pondering the question.

"No, I don't think I will."

Then she felt a hand on her back.

"Really?" Yang said. "Seems like it to me."

And Weiss really should have seen that coming.

Barely having time to let out a squeak of her own, Weiss splashed into the water vanishing underneath the waves. The taste of saltwater filled her mouth and she broke the surface, coughing, her platinum hair plastered to her face. Ugh, this was why she hated swimming.

Treading water, she glared up at Yang even as a giggling Ruby, swam up to her.

"You saw her coming, didn't you?" Weiss asked her accusingly.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"That was petty."

In response, Ruby merely grinned, giving her an underwater hug and a kiss on the cheek. Then Ruby stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"You taste salty."

"Wow she's that's mad?" Yang said. "Let it go Ice Queen."

Coco laughed and Weiss could practically see Yang's face light up. Oh wow, Coco even liked Yang's terrible jokes. She would never stop now... well to be fair, it was unlikely she was ever going to.

"Are you going to help me out at least," Weiss asked. The water was starting to get cold. "Or do you want to show off some more?"

Yang scoffed, leaning over Weiss as she blocked the ladder of the boat.

"Are you really taking the moral high ground after you pushed my sister?"

"At least I didn't do it to show off."

Letting out a chuckle, Yang turned back to Coco.

"Well are you impressed?"

"I thought it was funny."

Weiss repressed the urge to splash Yang as the blonde looked back at her with a super smug look on her face. The only saving grace was Coco tip toeing up behind Yang and Weiss forced herself to keep a straight face.

"Looks like it worked at lea-"

Yang yelped as Coco pushed her, but unfortunately for the fashion queen, Yang had much better reflexes than Weiss and Ruby. Realising she couldn't stop herself falling Yang turned in the air and grabbed hold of Cocos arm. Another yelp and the biggest splash yet.

So, in the end, Ruby got her wish. Weiss would grumble but Ruby was right. It was fun watching Yang trying to dunk her sister under the water, Coco yelling as her friends stole her hat and Weiss even joined in with the ensuing splash fight.

That ended though when they realised the boat was slowly drifting away and only some frantic swimming saved them all from drowning at sea.


	29. Chapter 29

Weiss stared out the window. The sky was clear. That didn't seem right to her. It should be stormy or at the very least raining. There was barely even a breeze. Sighing, Weiss wrapped her arms around her knees, sitting on her bed, alone, in her room.

Maybe it was appropriate weather she thought. Wishing for a storm was bit dramatic really. Besides it didn't even fit. She didn't really feel angry or sad. She did just feel kinda empty. Ugh, now she really was being dramatic.

She shook her head, trying to push the thoughts from her mind. It was ancient history and every year, Weiss thought she was over it. Then the date would roll around on the calendar and hit her like a freight train, no matter how much she told herself she didn't care.

It was better than last year at least. Last year she had gotten drunk, took something Emerald gave her and given Mercury head in a night club bathroom, not all in that order. The thought of it now made her want to puke. All part of her "fuck you dad" phase.

Yeah, she sure showed him.

Falling back onto her bed, Weiss let herself bounce on her back. Winter was still working and wouldn't be back until late. Only a week until the Vytal festival and then Weiss might have a sister again.

She thumbed over her scroll, not really all that surprised when she saw no messages. It was just a regular Tuesday after all and she hadn't messaged anyone else herself.

It was why she was alone today. Ruby would have been with her in a heartbeat if Weiss had told her what today was. They could lie in bed, Ruby would hold her or Weiss could hold Ruby. It would be up to her.

But it wouldn't be the right way to progress their relationship. She didn't want their first time to be because she was feeling like this. Ruby deserved better than that and Weiss didn't want to make the same mistakes again.

In a way, it wasn't quite fair to Ruby. She hasn't explained her reluctance and Weiss knew her girlfriend wanted to do more with her. Weiss was trying to build it slowly. It was new for both of them. Weiss had never been with a girl and Ruby hadn't really been with anyone.

Weiss sighed as she tried to clear her mind of conscious thought. Why couldn't today just be over already. Why did it affect her so much every year? It was just a regular day.

Except it wasn't a regular day and she knew it. Today was the day her mother had died.

* * *

 ** _Beep Beep_**

The sounds of a car horn awoke Weiss from her stupor with a scowl. What the hell was that racket. What were they doing out there?

 ** _Beep_**

Now annoyed, Weiss stood up from her bed angrily. She didn't quite know what she was planning to do. Most of the people in the complex also worked for Atlas and were in similar situations to Winter. Maybe a partner and a child but teenagers causing trouble didn't really happen. Weiss wasn't sure the protocol for getting them to shut up. Should she call the police or-

 ** _BEEEEEEEEP_**

Okay, now Weiss was angry. Sure, it wasn't really all that late but that still didn't give people the right to act like buffoons. Stomping out her room, she grabbed a wet sponge from the kitchen, not really sure what she intended to do with it. Even with the Team RWBY training, Weiss doubted that it would be an effective deterrent.

To mad to really care or to properly notice her scroll was ringing, Weiss threw open the window that overlooked the parking lot and shouted into the night.

"Would you hoodlums shut up and keep the-"

Weiss stopped yelling as she recognised the car and the three occupants. Particularly the brunette hanging out the window and the blonde reaching across to hit the horn. Still in shock, Weiss dumbly pulled out her scroll and held it to her ear.

"Hey Weiss," Blake's calm voice said from the other end of the line. "Are you busy tonight?"

"What- I..."

"Did she call us hoodlums?" Yang voice echoed in the background making Weiss cringe at her own words. "Are we hoodlums?"

"I told you not to beep the horn," Blake said before addressing her again. "Weiss?"

"I- What are you doing here?"

"I was bored."

Weiss felt her eyes narrow in suspicion.

"When you're bored, you read."

"That's what I said," Yang said.

"I have more in my life than books," Blake said, though Weiss wasn't sure who to. "Look do you want to come, or don't you?"

If she was honest, no. Weiss didn't want to do anything but if she said that, they would probably pester her until she went anyway. Yang would probably beep the horn again. And they did almost always make Weiss feel better anyway. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad an idea...

"Let me get ready. I'll be down in twenty minutes."

She hadn't been intending to really leave her home after all. She looked kinda a mess, however Blake didn't seem sympathetic to her plight.

"You have ten."

Half an hour later, she met the others in the parking lot. Blake was glaring at her as she's got into the passenger seat (Yang had been relegated to the back with her sister for bad behaviour).

"What?" Weiss asked.

"You are unbelievable," Blake grumbled.

Pulling the handbrake, the Faunus started to drive out the parking lot. Ruby smiled at her, giving Weiss a hug through the car seat. Weiss squeezed her hand... but only a little.

The radio was playing, what sounded like a faunus radio show judging by the topics. A little serious for Weiss's tastes but she wasn't going to ask to change it for her benefit. Fortunately, when the host started a discussion on the White Fang, Blake changed it herself rather quickly leaving them with much more pleasant light music.

"Anyone hungry?" Yang asked the group. "I feel like burgers. We should get burgers."

* * *

Forty minutes and a burger stop later, the four friends were sitting about in Blake's apartment eating their food. Weiss had gone for a chicken wrap much to Yang's annoyance;

"It's a burger joint. Why would you get a wrap?"

Ruby had also insisted she get a milkshake, though Weiss had a sneaking suspicion that this was only so her girlfriend could have two flavours. Still it tasted good so Weiss wasn't going to complain, even though Ruby was constantly stealing her chocolate under the guise of snuggling.

Joining Weiss in the disappointing Yang bus was Blake with her fillet of fish burger;

"At least it's on a bun..."

and now the four of them were eating their various foods and casually talking. Weiss had sent Winter a text explaining where she was though she figured Winter would have worked it out. Still it was the polite thing to do.

"So, Yang, how are things with Coco?" She asked when there was a slight lull in the conversation.

Yang grinned the same goofy grin that she always did whenever she talked about Coco. It was cute but Weiss hoped that she didn't ever look that much like a puppy.

"It's good," the blonde said, almost shyly. "We were doing some modelling earlier. You should see her set up. It's really something. It's kinda sucks I'm not her size so I could to do more."

"It sounds fun," Ruby said. "But you should do it in costumes instead. Oh, and with props. Oh, and weapons!"

Yang laughed even as her sister went off on her own tangent.

"Yeah it was fun. I'll show you the photos once Cocos done with them." Her voice dropped into something a little more gloomy. "She's got a bunch of work she has to do tonight. We were going to hang out but I figured I would just be in the way."

"I'm sure she doesn't think that Yang," Blake said. "You know you are fun to be around."

"When you aren't being obnoxious," Weiss added.

"Or when you aren't making jokes," Ruby chimed in.

"Thanks guys. You sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself."

"Ignore them. They're just jealous they aren't the hot new couple anymore," Blake said earning a glare from Weiss. "And I'm sure that your photos look great. Just make sure you only send us the PG ones."

"They were all PG, thank you very much," Yang grumbled. "I told you Coco likes to take things slow. She only kissed me on the third date."

Yang's blush betrayed her a little and she quickly changed tactics, determined to avoid being teased by Blake any further. Not that Weiss could really blame the Faunus. She was sure that Blake had suffered and uncountable amount of teasing at the hands of Yang in the past. Blake was merely rebalancing the scales now that Yang was in a relationship that warranted teasing and not an intervention.

So, in a move truly fitting the Xiao Long household, Yang changed the subject into something juvenile.

"Hey Blake, I'll give you ten bucks if you eat the rest of the sauces?"

Weiss wrinkled her nose in disgust as she looked at the pile of extra sauces that they had gotten from the burger place. Tomato, Mayo, barbecue and even a cheese sachet that Ruby had warned her not to go near. Six packets in total, a truly repulsive prospect and judging from Blake's reaction, she agreed.

"No Yang. You are not paying me 10 bucks to vomit."

"Come on it'll be funny," Yang said. Seeing her friend was having none of it the blonde changed tactics. "Ruby?"

"Not ever," Ruby said with a gag. "That's so gross."

"You both are such babies. It's free money." Yang's eyes moved over to Weiss though there didn't seem to be much hope there. "Weiss, you wanna make em look bad."

No, she did not. Weiss didn't even like sauce on her food, let alone drinking it straight from the source. Just the thought of eating that rancid mixture was enough to make her stomach curl in protest.

"I'll do it for 30."

Weiss blinked as she heard her mouth say the words. She hadn't meant to say that. Why did she say that? The other three girls were as shocked as she was but Yang's shock quickly wore off.

"Really? I mean..." Yang put on her best poker face. "I'll give you 15."

Weiss considered it, thorough she didn't know why. This was a terrible idea and was sure to be an awful experience not nearly worth 30 lien. Really this was a no brainer.

"25."

Okay now she had no idea what her brain was doing. Yang frowned slightly as she took out her purse. Emptying the contents onto the floor she did a quick count.

"Okay I have on me, 21.73 Lien and a coupon for a free muffin if you buy two more coffees." She adopted a serious game show voices. "Weiss Schnee, is that enough for you to take on the Condiment Concoction?"

"Why am I not surprised you have a name already?" Blake asked, before turning to Weiss. "If you throw up on my floor, you're cleaning it."

"I am not going to throw up Blake," Weiss scoffed deciding this had gone on far enough. "Because I will not be... that weak."

Yang let out a whoop of glee and Ruby just shook her head with a smile. Weiss sighed internally to herself. She made bad decisions around her friends. Taking the sachets from Yang, she grimaced and opened them.

* * *

Five minutes later, Weiss was washing her mouth under the kitchen sink, clutching her winnings in one hand and trying not to throw up. Yang and Ruby were wrestling in the lounge since Ruby now blamed Yang for Weiss's state.

"Without your hair, you are weak!"

"Get off me Rubes."

Blake had left the two sisters too it, standing next to Weiss to make sure she was okay. Occasionally Weiss would let out a groan and receive a pat on the back for her troubles.

"Uhh," Weiss groaned, still tasting the mustard. "Why did I do that?"

"I have no idea," Blake replied. "But you got a coupon out of it. That's something."

Groaning again, Weiss spat out some more water, tasted a little tomato and gagged a little. She could hear Blake chuckle at that then heard a yelp coming from Ruby and a laugh from her sister.

"What are they doing?"

Blake titled her head to get a better angle before relaying the scene.

"It looks like Ruby is winning."

There was a thump, a triumphant sound from Yang and some girlish shrieks from Ruby.

"Now Yang is tickling her."

Another thump and Rubys giggles.

"Now Ruby is trying to give Yang a wedgie."

There was a high pitch squeal from the blonde and Ruby laughed again.

"What a bunch of dolts," Weiss muttered. Secretly though, she was rooting for Ruby.

Weiss turned off the tap convinced she wasn't going to vomit now most of the taste was gone. She looked up in time to see Blake wince at Yang's defeat before turning back to Weiss.

"What? You and your sister never do anything like that?"

The heiress laughed even though she knew Blake was joking.

"What do you think? My parents would never allow us to get anywhere close to that."

"Right, they had to give you a rundown on pranks, didn't they?"

"Just because I was raised in a civilised manner," Weiss said defensively. "Besides, when we set my mind to it, we Schnees can be quite the practical jokers."

Blake didn't even try to humour her.

"Oh really? What did you do, hide your sisters pony? Put gold crumbs in her bed?"

"You know sarcasm has its limits Blake?"

"Haven't found it yet," Blake said. "But okay, miss Quin, what do you do to torment your sister?"

Weiss hesitated slightly, unwilling to divulge the rather childish prank war the two sisters had engaged in after her friends had shown Weiss the ropes. It was embarrassing and rather unbecoming of a Schnee. Though perhaps today of all days, that was as good a reason as any to tell her.

"Well if you must know," Weiss glanced over to see the two sisters were still out of earshot. "But you can't tell the others..." She lowered her voice. "It started small enough, I used the sink when she was in the shower."

Blake snorted.

"Classic but tame. Sun does that to me all the time."

"Well after Winter retaliated by putting mentos in my drink."

"Now see that's imaginative."

"This escalated recently until I put chilli powder in her tea."

"Now that's copying Ruby."

"Well perhaps it was appropriate that Ruby was there for Winters next attempt. She hid a giant toy spider in my wardrobe. "

Weiss shot Blake a dirty look as the Faunus bit her hand trying to stop herself laughing.

"Whose side are you on?"

"I don't know, your sister is kinda sounding like a badass. I can imagine you squealing." Blake held up her hands in a shrill imitation of Weiss. "Oh, Ruby save me from the giant spider."

Weiss was about to object before hearing Ruby shout from the other room.

"Did you say someone Blake? I couldn't hear you over the sound of me kicking Yang's butt."

Smirking back at Weiss, Blake called back, a little louder than usual to be heard over Yang's uncomfortable noises. Clearly Ruby was still winning their sibling rivalry.

"Don't worry about it Ruby. Just talking with your girlfriend." Blake turned back to Weiss. "So, did your sister win your little war then? So far it seems you've always been on the back foot."

"No actually. The last time she did washing I snuck one of Rubys socks in with it. I dare say that Winter was rather mortified when all her work shirts were a shade pinker than usual." Weiss giggled. "I do wonder how long it took for her to take off her jacket that day."

Blake shook her head but there was an amused grin on her face all the same.

"Okay I will admit that one was rather good."

"I'm glad I finally got your approval. You should be careful Belladonna, I may turn my devious mind to you next."

"I'm quaking in my boots."

They both laughed at that, leaning backwards on the kitchen counters. Then suddenly without warning, Weiss remembered what day it was but for first time in a long time, it didn't seem to hurt so much.

"You know," Weiss said softly. "I think I really needed this."

"Needed what?"

"Just this. Hanging out. Not thinking. Doing childish things... it's simple."

Blake gave her a small smile and for a moment Weiss wondered if Blake knew what this day meant for her. It was certainty possible, Blake had always known more about her than the others. Blake rarely organised plans for the group, normally content to have nights to herself. Was this Blake's way of helping her?

If it was, Weiss would never know. Weiss would never ask and Blake would never admit it even if she did. It was just the way they were but still Weiss found herself resisting the urge to hug her.

And then, Weiss decided on today of all days, that she didn't want to resist. So, she didn't, stepping forward and hugging her friend. Blake seemed to freeze up for a moment and even when Weiss felt her slacken, Blake never truly relaxed.

"Hey," Ruby said. "Trying to steal my girlfriend Blake. How could you?"

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way," Blake dead panned. "It's true. Weiss and I are lovers."

Ruby pouted, dramatically raising her arms in the air in an attempt to look forlorn. Rolling her eyes at their antics, Weiss let go of Blake and hugged her girlfriend instead. Immediately, Ruby stopped pouting and pecked Weiss on the lips.

"Gross," Yang said, joining them. She still looked a little frazzled from her and Rubys tussle and was currently trying to fix her underwear. "Geez Rubes that hurts like a bitch."

"Consider it payback for all the ones you gave me," Ruby said with a grin. "And for almost making Weiss throw up."

"I'm your big sister, I practically have to wedgie you. And I didn't make Weiss do anything. It was pretty baller though."

"I'm glad I could impress you," Weiss said. "Sorry you got your ass kicked because of me."

"She hardly kicked my ass. Besides I was holding back."

"Yang you screamed," Blake said. "It was brutal. I almost went to help."

"Aww Blake. I didn't know you cared."

"I said almost."

"Too late," Yang said in a sing song voice. "Blake cares about me. Blake cares about me."

As she watched the two girls argue, Weiss continued to hold onto her girlfriend, slowly swaying from side to side. Nothing the motion, Ruby frowned at her, clearly concerned.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes Ruby, because of all of you, I think I am."

* * *

 **Meanwhile across town**

Winter Schnee walked into a bar. Not something she would usually do but today wasn't exactly a normal day. It was strange. She had accepted and mourned her mother's death a long time ago, but having Weiss in her life again had awoken the memories she thought she had long put to bed.

She had wanted to see Weiss when she finished worked but by the time she got home, Weiss had gone out, leaving a note that explained she was at her friends. Winter was glad that her sister wasn't alone but unfortunately that did leave her alone. She didn't think that it would bother her but after finishing her dinner of microwaved pasta, Winter had grabbed her coat and left.

The bar itself was fairly empty but that was only a good thing. Winter didn't really want to talk to anyone, she just wanted people around. The barman smiled as she approached.

"Evenin, don't think I've seen you here before."

"First visit."

"Well then let's make it a good one," he replied, picking up on the fact she wasn't here to talk. "What can I get ya?"

Winter paused for a moment not quite sure what to order. She had always been fond of vodka, but only if it was good vodka, not to sound snobby. Her brief pause however gave rise to a familiar voice behind her.

"For Winter Schnee? You should break out your finest wine."

Internally Winter let out a groan turning around to find Qrow Branwen staring at her, a cocky smirk on his smug face. Her mood soured she suddenly didn't care so much about the quality of the liquor.

"Vodka straight up," she said, trying to remain polite. "Good evening Qrow, I'm surprised to see you here."

"Oh really? Why's that?"

"I took you for someone who goes to dive bars."

Qrow laughed, just adding to her irritation. The barman sighed,

"Ooo, cold Ice Queen. And here I am trying to have a friendly conversation with a co-worker."

"I didn't come here to talk Qrow."

"A girl after my own heart."

"Leave me alone Qrow. I have to put up with you at work, I don't have to put up with you here."

"True but you also don't have any way to get rid of me," he said smugly. "Seriously what's up with you tonight. You're even more of a stick in the mud than usual. You've been acting weird all day. What's wrong?"

"Why do you care?"

"Who said I cared," he countered. "I might just be curious what can upset-"

"My mother died."

Qrow stopped talking at her sudden words, shutting his mouth mid-sentence. For a moment, they just stared at each other, as Winter waited for the retort from his barbed tongue.

Instead he just stood up and started to walk away.

"Sorry for your loss," he muttered.

Frowning in confusion, Winter whirled around in her seat to face the back of his head.

"That's it?"

"That's it. Family's off limits," he turned back with a small smile. "If you get tired of vodka, ask for the top shelf. That's where they keep the good stuff."

With that he turned away and headed towards some booths at the other end of the bar, leaving Winter alone. Just like she wanted... Shaking her head, she turned back to her glass running her fingers around the rim before knocking it back.

The cold liquor burned at her throat, marking it as a less than stellar brand. Still she downed it in one. Grimacing, she held the glass in her hand before looking back towards where Qrow sat, also drinking alone.

With a sigh of regret, she was already feeling, Winter signalled the barman.

* * *

With a clink of the two glasses in her hands, Winter sat down in the seat opposite from Qrow. Her co-worker blinked, surprised to see her. Enjoying the look on his face, Winter poured the bottle she had brought into both glasses before sliding one across to the him.

"What's this?"

"The top shelf."

"I can see that, why are you sitting here? You don't like me."

"And you don't like me, if I had to guess. But you're distracting and I don't want to drink alone. So tonight, we're going to drink, talk and tomorrow, we'll probably both never mention this again. Now drink."

Not waiting for a reply, Winter downed her drink, this time the burn was a lot stronger and she coughed, losing her cool demeanour to the liquor she wasn't used to. Surprise gone, Qrow laughed.

"Not used to whiskey Win?"

"How do you drink this?"

"Do it every day and you get used to it. You even learn to like it." He took a drink of his own, grimacing slightly as he finished. "For the most part."

Rolling her eyes, Winter poured them both another before raising her glass slightly. Qrow mirrored the gesture as she spoke her toast.

"To family."

"To family."

 _Clink_.


	30. Chapter 30

When Ruby had told her to wear white, Weiss had thought it was a joke. Still she had dutifully dressed in a white t-shirt and white jeans she found without asking questions. Now though standing with her friends in a crowd of people ready to run, it made a little more sense that Ruby also said it had to be expendable.

Apparently, though not everyone had gotten the message.

"Co, I said we would be doing a colour run," Yang said. "Are you sure you want to do it dressed in that?"

"You don't think I look good?"

"Never said that," Yang replied. "But-"

"Then that's all that matters."

"Don't bother Yang," Velvet said, shaking her head. "We once tried to go camping and Coco wore heels. She's a lost cause."

"You walked me through a swamp Scarlatina," Coco said with a glare, before huffing. "I just don't understand why you would own clothes you want to ruin."

"It's more about having to do things that might ruin them," Velvet replied. "Like, I don't know, a colour run!"

Coco grumbled something inaudible at that and Weiss couldn't help but smile. She had only met Coco a few times but it always amused her how stubborn she could be, especially when it came to fashion. Here she was in a crowd filled with white shirts and Coco was wearing her usual brown attire. Weiss could understand Velvets exasperation.

"Well fortunately for you, I'm a great girlfriend," Yang said with a smile. "So, I brought you a spare."

Weiss watched Coco consider it (for far too long) before reluctantly taking the white t-shirt from Yang and pulling it over her other clothes. If Weiss was honest, it wasn't exactly flattering, Yang being a little bigger than Coco and the look was not helped by Coco's scowl.

"Better?"

"Much," Velvet said, quickly snapping a picture with a smile. "Smile."

"Velvet delete that," Coco said. "I mean it, delete it."

But her threat lacked venom and they all knew it. Velvet just giggled, waved then left to find Yatsuhashi and Fox in hopes of getting a better angle for taking photos of the race. Coco sighed again and Weiss could see Yang getting a little nervous.

"Uhh, you know you don't have to do this if you don't want to," she said quietly. "I just thought it might be fun."

Coco softened instantly.

"Sorry Babe. It will be. Don't mind me. I'm just being ridiculous."

"Really, if you don't want-"

"But I do," Coco said. "I just wish I could look better."

"I think you look great."

"Ooo, good answer."

Yang grinned, placated by the response leant forward and kissed her girlfriend. Rolling her eyes, Weiss scanned the crowds again hoping that Ruby would be returning soon. Jaune and her had gone to sign their two teams up for the competition later in the day and hadn't gotten back yet.

They had already been given the clues for the challenges so they could pick the competitor accordingly. A little different than what Ruby had been expecting based on the other years, but it hadn't phased Weiss. Ruby would be leaving for art school in a few days so Weiss was determined that they beat Team JNPR and end the festival on a high note.

Plus, Nora had been taunting them for the last week about their team bets so Weiss felt the red head was due a little comeuppance, even if they didn't know the forfeit yet. Besides, even though Weiss had won, Nora had set her up for the second Yang bet. Weiss was going to ensure Karma was a bitch... yeah, doing it for Ruby.

"Looking for your girl," Sun asked her, noting Weiss's attention was elsewhere.

"I am looking for Ruby yes."

"Need a boost."

This earned him a glare from Weiss and a light punch on the shoulder from Blake.

"Sun be nice." Then she turned to Weiss. "But do you?"

"I hate you both."

"It's just a joke Weiss," Sun laughed. "Though I can see why you wear heels so much now."

Weiss scowled at the trainers she had to borrow, since she didn't own any, trying to notice that everyone was looking down at her. God, she hated being so short.

Her scowl melted away however when she finally caught sight of Ruby and Jaune returning from the entry submission. She could see them talking to one another, no doubt exchanging good natured taunts and friendly banter as part of their rivalry. Ruby might take it seriously but Weiss held know doubts that Ruby did this all primarily because it was fun and she liked that all eight of them did it.

"Hey guys, ready for the race?" Ruby said as she joined them.

"You do realise it's not a race, right?"

"That's loser talk Weiss."

"Oh, in that case, prepared to eat my very colourful dust," Weiss said with a smile. "Did you sign us all up okay?"

"Yep, Team Ruby is officially ready to kick Team JNPRs butt."

"That's what you always say," Jaune said, walking up to them with Pyrrha at his side.

"And history always seems to disagree with you," Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Hey Pyrrha, have we decided on their forfeits yet?"

"No Nora tried to find out if we could borrow the dunk tanks but her zeal seemed to put them off a little."

"Oh well, I'm sure we'll find something."

Weiss wasn't amused by their antics. Smug Jaune was annoying at the best of times but smug Pyrrha? That just wasn't natural. She couldn't wait to wipe the look of their faces, a sentiment very much shared by Ruby.

"Alright laugh it up. Pick the worst forfeit you can find." Ruby waved her finger at the two of them. "It will be you doing it after all."

"We'll see."

"Oh, we will see."

"Oh yeah, we will see."

Weiss sighed. She could feel a headache coming on but thankfully, a larger man was heading onto a temporary stage that overlooked the two assembled crowds. Those taking part in the colour run and those who were just here for the festival. Frowning slightly, Weiss nudged Ruby interrupting her eloquent debating.

"Who's that? I feel like I've seen him before."

"Oh, that's Port. He runs the paintball place we went to. He comes to Beacon a lot which is probably why you recognise him. He's does the announcing for the games."

"Do the games really warrant an announcer?"

"They have two."

"Well of course they do." Weiss sighed. "When are we staring this run anyway?"

Before Ruby could reply, a loud voice echoed through the speakers followed by the screech of interference. Wincing the assembled crowds put their hands on their ears before a second taller man fixed the mic for Port. The new man also looked vaguely familiar to Weiss.

"Whoops. Ha ha ha. Sorry about that folks, but let me be the first to welcome you all to this year's Vytal festival. A noble and proud tradition that dates back to-"

"Peter please," the other man interrupted before continuing very quickly. "Although the history of the Vytal festival is a fascinating study, time is of the essence. We must make haste and proceed to the Colour Run." He paused. "Though if anyone would like to discuss the historical significance and symbolism behind the colours and our individuality, I would be happy to oblige.

"Now who's wasting time, eh Barty?" Port let out a loud booming belly laugh. "But you're right, we must be moving along. Firstly, we would like to thank you all for coming and volunteering for the games. I'm sure we will see some fierce competition."

"Team JNPR will also be present," Yang whispered making Coco snort.

"However," Oobleck said. "This year we have decided to spice things up a little. As you all know, teams were provided with clues for the events so they could pick their competitors effectively."

They had been quite simple clues if Weiss was honest and it had been fairly simple to match up a team mate to the challenge.

Strength was obviously Yang.

Precision had gone to Blake.

Ruby had picked Speed.

Weiss had volunteered for Balance.

Finally, Obstacle involved them all and they all had a pretty good idea what it would be.

All in all, Weiss felt that they had picked the best possible combos for the challenges. It was perfect and JNPR didn't stand a chance. Victory was practically guaranteed.

"Well unfortunately," Port said with another laugh. "We decided to throw a few spammers in the works. After the race if you would like to head towards the notice board." He gestured towards the beach. "You will find out what event you will be competing in."

Well that was just perfect. Knowing Weiss's luck, she was probably going to end up in the strength challenge and lose the competition for all of them. Still she kept her doubts hidden not wanting to be a buzzkill considering the murmur of excitement that was flitting through the crowd.

"But that is all still to come," Oobleck said, looking amused. "To those watching we hope you all enjoy the attractions and rides available. If you have time and wish to watch our competitors, the game should will be mostly taking place on the beach."

"Now though let the race begin!"

A loud horn blasted, immediately drowned out by cheers and yells of the crowd as they began to run. The route was taped off with volunteers on both sides holding buckets filled with coloured powders. Quickly they got to work and soon the sky was filled with falling colours.

Laughing Ruby grabbed Weiss's hand and together the two of them started to run with the crowd. Occasionally they caught sight of their other friends, be it Sun dumping handfuls of purple across Blake who threw back in kind. Another time they saw Nora trying to take a bucket of pink away from a volunteer while Ren tried to stop her.

But for the most part, it was just Weiss and Ruby running and laughing together. Weiss knew she looked awful, her white hair and pale skin making her a blank canvas for the dust and. Later when they looked back on photos, Weiss would cringe at the patchwork of colours she ended up looking like.

Right now, Weiss didn't care and when they finished the race, panting and sweating, all Weiss could think to do was pull Ruby close, take out her scroll and capture this moment for them.

And when she felt Ruby press her lips against hers, the pink on her face had nothing to do with the powder.

* * *

After a brief clean-up and a check up on the board, the two teams headed to the. Each ready for the first challenge. Balance, Yang vs Nora. The original battle of strength but still Yang seemed reasonably confident that they had this in the bag. How much of that confidence was showboating for Cocos benefit, Weiss wasn't sure.

"Come I got this," Yang said, stretching her arms. "You know I got this."

"You better," Coco replied with a smirk. "I'm going to be watching and don't want to be in the splash zone."

Yang cringed slightly her eyes darting briefly to the green slime that filled the small pool about a foot deep. It was where the loser would end up if they couldn't keep balance on the podiums, designed to move around like a mechanic bull. It was a one on one challenge and although all the teams had to compete, they had managed to swap with another pair so RWBY and JNPR could go head to head directly.

"Wow," Nora said. "That looks gross."

"Yeah it does," Yang replied curtly.

"So slimy."

"Yup."

"And probably cold."

"Yeah."

"Can you imagine how it would feel in your hair?"

"Okay I get it Nora," Yang scowled, though she looked a little less confident. "I guess I just have to not lose."

There was a moment pause.

"But what if you do?"

Yang continued to glare at Nora who just grinned back at her. Shaking her head, Weiss shot Nora a look.

"Resorting to mind games now Nora," she said disapprovingly. "That's low."

"Whatever it takes to win."

With that she skipped away, pausing only to give Ren a quick peck on the cheek for luck as she headed towards the podiums. Coco was less subtle with her affection kissing Yang like it was something from a movie. Seriously, Weiss half expected Coco to have set up fireworks. It seemed like something she would do.

As they pulled away Weiss could see Yang's confidence had returned in spades and there was a satisfied smirk resting on Cocos.

"Go kick her ass."

* * *

A few minutes later and both girls were set up on their podiums facing each other just a few feet away. Everyone else was watching from the side of the pool, leaving a little gap so they weren't in danger from being splashed. It was quite dramatic really.

"Go get her sis!"

"You realise that it's a balance challenge Ruby?" Blake said. "They aren't allowed to knock each other."

"Yeah but shouting 'stand great sis' doesn't sound as good."

"True enough."

"You've got this Nora!"

"You can do it."

"We believe in you."

Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes as the two assembled teams cheered on Yang and Nora like they were actual gladiators. They hadn't even started yet but if Weiss was being honest, it was hard not to get into the spirit of things. Even people they didn't know were watching and picking sides. Weiss was surprised there wasn't betting going on.

There was a mechanical whirr and the two platforms started to move. It was slow but jerky and both girls were holding out their arms as they tried to retain their balance. It looked quite difficult and both girls had looks of intense concentration even as they tried to verbally throw each other off.

"Looking nervous Yang," Nora said. "The slime looks even worse from up here doesn't it."

"Worse for you. You're just lucky that Ren likes green. Maybe you should just jump off now and only get your feet wet."

"Funny I was going to-"

A sudden jerk forward cut Nora off and Weiss could see the panic in the red head eyes as she spun her arms on the edge of the platform, inches away from falling backwards off it. It looked like the game was over already but unfortunately, Nora was able to recover and managed to stay on though she looked a lot more nervous now even as Yang started to laugh.

"Alright there Nora? You're looking a little shaky there."

"Ahh don't worry about me. I've got you exactly where I want-"

This time both of them lurched, their platforms turning and at this point Weiss half expected this first challenge to end in a draw. A fitting if anticlimactic ending to the battle of the two most cocky members of the group.

But they both regained their balance each shooting the other a wry grin. The crowds had gotten quiet as though even speaking would topple one of the titans. Even Weiss caught herself holding her breath. Glancing at her phone, Weiss saw that maybe a minute had passed.

"So Nora," Yang said. "Ready to give up yet?"

"Hah, I could do this all day," Nora said with a laugh. "But I guess I'll stop after you fall."

Yang smirked, sending a sideways glance in Cocos direction. A remarkable show of overconfidence considering how close she had been to falling earlier. Still considering Nora was also sending looks to Ren, Weiss couldn't judge her too much. She'd probably do the same thing.

"Not going to happen Nora. We bot-"

There was another jerk shutting Yang up again. Both Nora and Yang found themselves knocked backwards on the edge of the platform but both managed to just hold on as they leaned forward to compensate. That was until the platforms then tilted forward and momentum took one of them right off only giving her time to say a few words before she face planted.

"Oh crap."

 ** _Splat_**

A cheer came up from the crowd mixed with a couple of sympathetic awws from some supporters. Despite the competition both teams were laughing finding their friends predicament funny. But no one's cheers were louder than the girl still standing on the platform.

"Woohoo!" Nora shouted, as her platform came to a stop. "I'm the queen of the Castle!"

In the pool, a very green looking Yang raised her face out of the slime. It was hard to tell from the goo coating her hair and face but Weiss thought she looked rather annoyed.

"Ugh," she groaned. "Oh god this is gross."

Despite their loss, Weiss couldn't help but smile. She hadn't quite been expecting quite so dramatic an end to the challenge and though she would have liked to see Nora knocked down a peg, this was funny to.

Apparently, Ruby agreed as she was currently using Weiss as a support to stop herself falling, she was laughing so hard. Coco too was smiling even as she handed Yang a towel and sympathetically patted Yang on the back. Though Weiss did notice it was one of the few clean patches but still, it was a nice thought.

Weiss half expected Yang to ruin it by hugging her back but for once, Yang showed restraint.

"So, looks like we won the first round," Jaune said as he and Pyrrha approached. "Maybe we'll win with a lock out this year."

"Its early days yet Arc", Weiss replied. "You shouldn't get so smug quite yet."

"It's true Jaune," Pyrrha said. "We still have beat them at all the other rounds."

She giggled covering her mouth despite herself. Jaune was looking unbearably smug also earning the pair a glare from Weiss.

"You know I hate the competitive side of you Pyrrha."

"I'm sorry."

"You know, that didn't sound too genuine Pyrrha."

"Yeah," Ruby said. "You won't be looking so smug when it's your turn Pyrrha."

"Well luckily for you both, I'm up next."

Weiss felt her heart sink a little. Pyrrha sounded confident and that was not a good sign. Weiss and Rubys strategy had kinda relied on Pyrrha getting a bad draw but they also knew the next challenge was strength.

* * *

Half an hour later or so, after Yang managed to find a beach shower and cleaned up a little (her shorts and yellow tank top was still a little stained though). They past the time watching the rest of balance challenges, though no falls were quite as spectacular as Yang's. Velvet had quite a few good shots of it.

Though once that was done they were able to get on with the next challenge and if Weiss was honest, she wasn't very confident. Pyrrha had managed to draw strength which only Yang would have stood a chance. Maybe it was lucky it was Blake trying this. Weiss and Ruby really weren't built for gladiators.

Or maybe Weiss just didn't want to end up in the slime.

The challenge was simple. Old fashioned carnival gladiators. They were using the same set up as the Balance challenge though this time the platforms weren't moving. Blake and Pyrrha both had foam batons (though they looked more comfortable in Pyrrha hands than Blake) and were just waiting for the organiser to say they could start.

"You got this Blake," Ruby called. "You can do this."

Weiss turned to her, whispering so Blake couldn't see.

"Do you believe that?"

"Umm, she might be able to surprise her or something."

Rubys optimism was endearing but Weiss couldn't help but feel it was misplaced. Blake was great but she wasn't exactly super strong. The Faunus was toned for sure (a very apparent fact now she was wearing shorts) but she wasn't crazy muscly like Yang, Nora and Pyrrha.

Blake might as well just jump off now and save herself the mess. Purple and green did not go.

"Begin!"

Pyrrha at least had the good grace to give Blake an apologetic smile before she started. When she started however it was like Pyrrha was a different person. Her face went to granite and she just started pummelling. Her arms moved in fast and strong, heavy hits that would have knocked Weiss down in one hit, had she been up there.

Weiss winced as she watched, amazed that Blake had lasted as long as she had. Though lasting was all she seemed to be doing. Pyrrha assault was too ferocious for Blake to have a chance to hit back.

"I almost feel bad for her," Nora said. "Looks like we're going to be two for two."

Yeah it really did. Competitive Pyrrha (who was probably also wanting to make sure that Jaune won his bet with Ruby) was a scary thing. Blake's baton had dipped now, slipping into the slime as Blake struggled to stay balanced.

Later when asked Blake would deny it, but Weiss swore she saw the Faunus smirk just for a second.

Pyrrha raised her baton back ready for a final blow and at that moment, Blake flicked her slime drenched baton up so that the liquid flew at Pyrrhas face. Surprised, Pyrrha left herself open and in one swift moment, Blake directed her baton into Pyrrhas chest and shoved.

With a cry of surprise, Pyrrha fell backwards landing in a sitting position. For a moment, there was a stunned silence from the crowd at the sudden turn of events and then there was cheers. Everyone loved an underdog after all.

Jumping down Blake offered a helping hand to Pyrrha, giving the girl a smile. Pyrrha gratefully took it, climbing to her feet in the slippy pool.

"That was quite a manoeuvre Blake."

"Oh that," Blake said dryly. "I just got lucky."

"Does that mean we are drawing now?" Ruby said. Despite her earlier words she was as surprised as everyone else. "Alright. In your face Jaune!"

Blake shook her head, stepping out of the pool and grabbing a towel to clean her legs. Weiss just stared at her, still not quite believing what had happened. Noticing her surprise, Blake just shrugged.

"Next time have more faith in me."

* * *

"You can do it Weiss!" Ruby shouted for the crowd. "I believe in you."

Great, not only was Weiss going to lose but she was also going to let Ruby down. Well that wasn't just typical. She had volunteered for Balance and although she was half her challenge didn't have slime, she was fairly confident she could have won it. Especially against Jaune.

But speed? She was screwed and what was even worse, it was hurdles. So not only would she be in last place, she would also have knocked over every hurdle. Maybe if she was lucky, someone would fall over and she could get second last.

Unlike the previous two challenges, this challenge had more than just two teams going at once. Six in total, so Weiss has five people she could lose too. Her only saving grace was that this race was fairly short and just on sand. She wouldn't have to shower like Pyrrha and Yang.

"You ready Weiss?" Jaune said as he lined up next to her. "I mean it's kinda a boring one but still, should be fun."

She smiled in response, more to be polite than anything else. It wasn't his fault she was stuck doing a challenge she was bad at.

"Ready!" Port shouted from the side lines. "Three, two, one." Weiss considered cheating. "Go!"

Taking off at a sprint amidst the cheering crowds, Weiss ran as fast as she could towards the finish line. The first hurdle was fast approaching reaching between her knees and thigh. Damn her short legs.

With a grunt she jumped, surprising herself as she cleared it. The bigger surprise however was the small pit of water, hidden on the other side. While better than slime, it was still iced cold Weiss let out a shriek of surprise but thankfully stayed standing.

Jaune had let out a yelp of surprise too and it seemed that from the sounds everyone was making, everyone had been expecting normal hurdles. Which considering everyone watching had a much better view of the course, was somewhat suspicious.

Panting, Weiss made a mental note to yell at... someone later and continued her sprint. Jaune had already pulled ahead of her but she wasn't dead last yet. The race was short, maybe she could save some dignity after all.

The next hurdle she smacked into causing it to splash the water up her back much to her chagrin. So much for saving dignity.

* * *

In the end, Weiss finished fourth and knocked about half the hurdles over. She was soaked, horribly sweaty and Jaune had come in second but still, it could have been a lot worse.

Ruby had consoled her loss before having to head off to her event. Precision which translated to an archery challenge. Ruby seemed to have been the luckiest out of them all with her challenge containing no surprises at all. Three arrows to see how well you could score. Simple as that.

It was actually quite relaxing. This one had drawn far less of a crowd and only had cheering if someone did particularly well. Ren had gone first and had scored a very respectable 18. It was pretty good but on her first arrow, Ruby had hit the bullseye netting her 10 points right off the bat. Seemed like this round would be in their favour putting the two teams back to drawing once again.

Rubys next arrow hit the second to middle ring bringing her up to 18 as well. All she had to do now was hit the board. Weiss watched her from the side-lines, scroll in her hand. Ruby had wanted an action shot as she called it and felt too awkward to ask Velvet to focus on her.

Weiss didn't mind, she wasn't doing anything at the moment anyway and she couldn't think of worse ways to spend her time. Ruby shot her a grin as she lined up her shot. She was being dramatic, trying to show off for Weiss. It was working, though probably not for the reasons the brunette was thinking.

Mostly it was the way the muscles in her arm stretched with the bow, the way her legs stood out from beneath her shorts, the way her chest pushed out her shirt and showed off her midriff just a little. It was enough to make anyone...

 ** _Thwack_**

Weiss blinked, the sound of the arrow hitting the target snapping her from her rather inappropriate daydream. She glanced down at the scroll in her hands and thankfully she had managed to take the photo despite her distracted state.

Ruby was grinning having achieved her second bullseye and Ruby found herself smiling back at her. Then she heard a small cough and looked round to see Jaune giving her a knowing look.

"What?" She said.

"Nothing," he replied innocently. "Nothing at all."

"Shut up."

Jaune just shook his head and was probably saved from certain death by the timely arrival of Ruby. Clearly excited from her victory, she half jumped into Weiss's arms.

"Did you see that Weiss," she said grinning. "I was all like, thwip, thwahh, bullseye."

This, of course, was all accompanied by action poses. Such an adorable dork.

"Yes, I saw, it was all very smooth," Weiss replied. "Here's your photo. Does it look alright?"

Ruby paused for a moment, analysing it for a few seconds until smiling again, clearly satisfied.

"Yeah Weiss it looks great. I'm gonna use it for base point for my next drawing. Imagine this, but all fantasy and stuff. I might be an elf. It'll be cool, right?"

"Oh yeah, elves are super cool."

"Shut up," Ruby said swatting Weiss playfully. "It's going to be awesome and you know it."

"I suppose you do have somewhat of a track record," Weiss mused. "You'll just have to show me when you're done."

"You betcha. I'll just come over when I'm-"

Ruby stopped mid-sentence her smile falling somewhat. It took Weiss a second but she soon too remembered. Ruby would be leaving. Sure, she would be visiting at weekends sometimes but it wasn't the same. It wasn't ever going to be the same.

"Well looks like we're two for two?" Jaune said, obviously noticing the mood shift. "Looks like you might finally have a shot at this. Hey, losing three to two isn't so bad."

Ruby snorted turning her attention back to Jaune.

"You're looking pretty confident considering we are on the same points. Maybe you should get Nora to tone it down on finding the forfeit."

Jaune seemed to consider it, tapping his chin as though deep in thought. Then he just grinned.

"Nah, history on our side. JNPRs got this."

"Team RWBY will be victorious!"

"You are both such dorks," Weiss said with a sigh. "How long until the next challenge."

"A couple of hours," Jaune said after checking his watch. "Seems like we got time to kill."

Weiss smiled, her mood brightening. A couple of hours with her girlfriend sounded wonderful. Linking her arm with Rubys she began to walk toward the main festival, back where the fairground attractions and rides were.

"We'll see you later Jaune," she said with wave. "Then we're going to kick your ass."

"Yeah but first Rollercoasters!"

"I was thinking more of you winning me prizes."

"Rollercoasters!"


	31. Chapter 31

"Well what do you think?" Nora exclaimed happily.

Weiss raised an eyebrow as she stared at what Nora had found. Only half an hour after leaving to spend some quality time with Ruby, there had been a message on the group chat from Nora. Apparently she had found the losing teams forfeit and just needed everyone's approval.

Reactions were mixed, to say the least.

"Well it's fit for purpose" Pyrrha offered. "If a little..."

"Barbaric?" Weiss said."

"That's a bit much," Yang said.

"Its a pillory booth. It's actually medieval."

"Well it's not like we are throwing rotting fruit," Blake said before pausing. "We aren't are we?"

Ren shook his head even as Nora's eyes lit up. He and Nora had been together, of course, and they had worked out the details. The Atlas employee in charge was fine to let them use it as long as they paid for the ammunition. Not rotting fruit, just pies.

"Well I like it," Ruby said, grinning at Jaune. "What flavour will you be wanting Jaune? Vanilla?"

"I assume you will be wanting strawberry."

"Blake likes banana," Sun said earning him a glare. "What I'm not part of your bet? I wasn't asked back. Honestly I hope you all lose."

Blake just shook her head.

"You're so supportive."

"And don't you love it."

The man in charge of the pillory booth gave the group a strange look. Weiss couldn't really blame him. They were a rather strange group after all.

"Uh you kids realise we don't have flavours right."

There was a moments silence.

"Well that's boring."

"Nora," Ren said with a sigh before turning to the man. "Thank you for letting us use your booth."

"Yeah sure... whatever."

He walked away leaving the group standing alone, separated into their two teams, RWBY and JNPR as well as their supporters, Coco and Sun.

"So are we all in agreement then?" Jaune said. "Losing team get the stocks."

"Agreed," Ruby said instantly before pausing look at the others. "Uhh, as long as that okay with everyone else?"

There was some nods and various murmurs of agreement from the two teams. Each Yang agreed saying she had already had the grossest experience of her life, what was a little cream. It just all eyes on Weiss who didn't particularly like the thought of being pied in stocks should they lose.

"Okay fine," she said. "It's not like I'm really risking anything after all."

"Didn't you lose your challenge?"

Weiss resisted the urge to glare at Nora. She was just trying to get under her skin and Weiss wasn't about to give her the satisfaction. So instead of glaring, she just smirked instead.

"When we win," she said. "I get to pie Nora."

"Oh you are so on Weissy," Nora said gleefully. "I should warn you, I probably have good aim."

"Ooo Ooo," Ruby said. "I dibs Jaune."

"I got Pyrrha," Yang said.

"You're funeral Rubes."

"Very well," Pyrrha said. "Though I really don't have much of a preference."

Blake and Ren glanced at each other.

"Ahh," Ren dead panned, pointing in a fairly lucklaster manner. "I choose Blake."

"You have made a fatal mistake today Ren," she replied, very much without enthusiasm. "A fatal mistake indeed."

And there it was, the lines had been drawn and there was no backing out now. The two teams stared each other down, knowing that only one of them was walking away from this. This was a day that would live in infamy. It would all be decided in a few short hours.

"So are you guys done here," Coco said. "I kinda want to hang out with my girlfriend."

* * *

"You okay Weiss?"

Weiss nodded not trusting herself to speak quite yet. Ruby had been rather excited to go on the rollercoasters and Weiss hadn't seen a reason to object. Sure she hadn't been on many before but how bad could it be. Ruby seemed to love them and they were all perfectly safe.

However this had led to Ruby taking Weiss on her favourite ride, 'Flight of the Nevermore'. A ride that promised adrenaline pumping, heart pounding thrills and boy had it delivered. Weiss wasn't sure if she had stopped spinning or falling (or screaming) the entire ride. It had been quite harrowing for her and the urge to vomit was high.

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked again, silver eyes filled with concern. "You look a little... uh green."

"I'll fine," Weiss said. "I merely require a moment to get my bearings."

She took a deep breath staring at the ground, her legs still shaking so she had to use Ruby for support. Jeez she was rather pathetic really. Feeling rather sorry for herself, Weiss heard a snort and whippped her head up to see Ruby trying to repress a smile.

"I'm glad you find my suffering pleases you," Weiss said with a glare. "It's your fault for taking me on that death trap."

"Oh shut up," Ruby said. "It really wasn't that bad."

"For you maybe. You have a tolerance."

"I'm sure if we try hard enough we can build up your tolerance to fun."

"Very funny," Weiss said. "But can we please do something else? Preferably something that doesn't involve miles per hour."

"Ugh, fine. I suppose we can go to the carnival games. Maybe we'll see my uncle. He can sneak us prizes."

Weiss nodded in reply and the two of them started their walk down the pier. Atlas had done a good job and it seemed all of Winters late nights hadn't been for nought. The Vytal festival was filled with people of all ages, happily enjoying the what they had to offer.

Down on the beach, other teams were still finishing off the other challenges and now they were just open to anyone who wasn't officially taking part. The slime pit had been removed though, now just replaced with an inflatable floor. Weiss couldn't help but feel that didn't bode well for them and the final challenge.

Behind them on the far end of the piers, rollercoasters and rides had been erected, screams of joy and thrill seeking cheers echoed through the air. Clearly, Weiss was never going to be an adrenaline junky herself (she had flat out refused to try 'landing strategies') but for many others, that impulse was being served and then some.

And above it all, wafting on the air was the smells emanating from every booth and stalls. Sugary sweets, salty peanuts and pretzels, fatty burgers and greasy chips. Not a single fruit or vegetable in sight. It was Rubys fantasy and Weiss had to work hard to pull her past the booths, lest they spend all their money on junk food.

"Are you sure your father doesn't need any help?" Weiss asked as they walked. "I feel rather bad he's the only one working."

"Yeah I know. Me and Yang offered to help but he said it was fine. With the new cart it's apparently a lot easier to sell." Ruby smiled. "Guess you and a Yang were right about that after all."

"Aren't I always?"

"Weiss you messed up making a sundae the other day. You've been working with us for months."

"The scoop was broken!"

Ruby giggled, latching onto Weiss's arm as she's fumed. It really wasn't her fault. Honestly... it wasn't. Laughing again, Ruby leaned closer determined to make Weiss smile through shear tenacious cuteness.

Sadly it worked, even as Weiss desperately tried to hold her smile down, she could feel her mouth turn up at the edges.

With a laugh of triumph, Ruby gave Weiss a quick peck on the lips before starting to pull her towards another stall. Her face pink, Weiss didn't really pay attention to where they were going until Ruby stopped her in front a large cut out of a rather buxom woman in a white bikini, being held up by increasingly muscular man in Red shorts on a beach.

The faces of theses ridiculous exaggerations were missing making it photo opportunity for couples walking by. And of course it was ridiculously overpriced but considering it Ruby was misusing her georgous silver eyes to puppy dog her, Weiss really didn't have a chance.

"I get to be the girl," she said. "And before you ask, no. I am not making a swooning face for you."

"But look at my muscles!"

Happily, Ruby practically jumped behind the cut out sticking her face into the gap of the muscular man. Shaking her head, Weiss dutifully walked round and pressed her face into the gap of the woman.

"Alright you love birds," an obnoxious man running the camera said. "Say cheese."

 _ **Flash**_

* * *

Over the next hour, their souvenirs began to grow. In addition to the photo, the pair of them, hit the carnival games, each doing their best to win more prizes than the other. Then when it became clear that Ruby had far more practice at this, it soon evolved into coaching.

And that was fine for Weiss. It was still fun and when she finally knocked down the cans or scored a basket, it was embarrassingly rewarding. What was more rewarding though, was being able to point at the giant fluffy wildness and present it to Ruby, who somehow hadn't worked out Weiss was obviously trying to win it for her.

Now though they were taking a break, seated at a small table, with Ruby finally managing to convince Weiss to try the carnival food. Her one requirements wasn't that Ruby get them something that wasn't pure sugar.

"You know this isn't all that bad," Weiss said, as she attempted to gracefully eat a burger. "The beef seems to actually be meat."

"Yup. Burgers are great," Ruby said, making no effort to be graceful. "Does this mean we can have dessert after."

"Shouldn't we wait till after the final challenge?"

Ruby paused, weighing her desire for sugar against her desire to win. Eventually she sighed.

"I guess you're right. Don't want to get stitches or anything."

"Vomiting would probably get us disqualified."

Her girlfriend let out grunt of approval before taking another massive bite of her burger. Weiss ate as well, though in smaller bites, and watched as Ruby hummed in contentment. Then suddenly, Ruby frowned tilting her head to the side.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"I thought I heard yelling...there it is again."

This time, Weiss heard it too. It wasn't quite yelling, but it did seem like two people were having a disagreement over something. She couldn't make out the details but did it really matter? It's not like it really had anything to do with them after all. It was none of their business.

"Let's go find out what's wrong," Ruby said.

Finishing her burger, Ruby jumped to her feet ready to go play hero.

"Why would we do that?"

"Well maybe we can help."

"How could we help?"

"I dunno, won't know till we find them." Ruby pulled at Weiss's arm, oblivious to how ridiculous she was being. "Besides, I think I recognise one of them."

Hesitant to get involved but not really wanting to leave Ruby alone, Weiss huffed but reluctantly got up to follow Ruby. She wasn't going to be able to convince Ruby to leave it and she was worried that Ruby might bite off more than she could chew. An image of Ruby cowering between people rough housing should this escalate.

So although she complained and tried to convince Ruby to leave, Weiss dutifully walked with her through the stands. As they got closer, the sound became clearer to differentiate between the general noise of the carnival. Weiss frowned. It wasn't strange. From here, it almost sounded like...

"For the last time Qrow," Winter said. "Find someone else."

"But I really think you would be great for it."

Winter let out a bark of laughter, oblivious to Weiss and Rubys presence. She was dressed in work casual with a heavy emphasis on work. White trouser and blouse with a blue summer jacket, the Atlas logo emblazed on the chest. All of it was crisply ironed and neatly worn.

The man with her also worked for Atlas, also wearing a grey jacket that bore their logo. However he leaned far more to the casual side of the style, with work nowhere in mind. They barely looked like they worked for the same company considering just how scruff he looked.

Wait was that a hip flask?

"Why are you still talking to me?"

"It's fun."

"You are meant to be working."

"I am working. I am finding a replacement for the dunk tank and I really-"

"I'm not doing it!"

Weiss stared at her sister, utterly bewildered. Winter always held herself with such poise, never projecting anything out she didn't need to. Weiss had assumed that at work she would be even more closed off but it seemed that this man of all people could get a rise out of her like it was nothing. Who was he?

"That is my uncle!"

Oh that just made too much sense.

Rubys excited outburst drew the attention of the two Atlas employees even as Weiss's stared incredulously at her. Seriously? Face palming she started walking towards her sister now they hadn't been noticed. Winter looked slightly embarrassed to have been caught in this argument but Rubys apparent uncle held no such remorse.

"Hey there squirt," Qrow said, ruffling Rubys hair before noticing Weiss. "Huh, this the one you keep going on about?"

"Be nice," Ruby said. "And aren't you meant to be working?"

"I am working. As I was explaining to my colleague here, the guy who is meant to be taking the next dunk tank shift had to bail."

"Qrow," Winter practically growled.

"So Jimmy, our boss," Qrow continued in a way that made it very apparent he was related to Yang. "Tells me to find someone else to take the next shift for two hours."

"And you thought my sister would agree to that," Weiss asked. "How long have you worked with her?"

Ruby giggled slightly before instantly stopping after the scathing look Winter shot her. Qrow didn't care though and laughed loudly.

"Heh, your one tells jokes." It was Weiss's turn to glare. "Oh look, she has the Schnee face. Well isn't that just precious?"

Both sisters glared at him but it only seemed to amuse him more, much to Winters exasperation.

"Will you please just go bother someone else?"

"Okay okay, I have one final offer," Qrow said with a grin. "I propose a wager."

"A wager? How old are you are?"

Instinctually, Weiss elbowed Ruby as she opened her mouth to mention their own childish adventures. That wasn't quite necessary for Winter to know.

"Hear me out, you'll like this. I challenge you to carnival games. If i win, you'll take the shift in the dunk tank. If you win." Qrow paused for dramatic effect. "I'll take the shift."

Weiss scoffed, amazed that Qrow had resorted to this tactic. Winter was like Weiss and couldn't just be baited into such a ridiculous game. Okay sure, Weiss had made a bet with Yang... twice. And of course, there was this tournament that she was taking part in along with her personal feud with Nora...

But Winter wasn't like that. Winter was boring, the very definition of white bread and although Weiss loved her dearly and could probably do much more with her than anyone else, it was just a fact.

"Fine," Winter said. "But only to see the look on your face."

"You're on Schnee."

* * *

Weiss could remember the moments in her life when she realised that adult swim really didn't have it figured out. Seeing how much her mother drunk and stumbling round the house had been one of them. Seeing her father verbally dress down a waiter had been another.

Seeing her sister, a woman she admired for many reasons, with a water pistol gripped in both hands spraying at a clowns wooden face, was anther one of those moments. Though considering this was now the sixth carnival game that Weiss had seen her play, Weiss was taking it in stride.

Honestly this sort of thing was happening far too much for it to phase Weiss now.

"Hah," Winter almost cackled as her balloon exploded. "I win again."

"Stupid thing mustn't be broken," Qrow said, tossing his gun down. "But I'm happy for you. Means you finally caught up."

Winters good mood soured at that and she glared at him though she didn't say anything in response. Truth be told, despite her bravado, Weiss didn't really think Winter was doing all that well. Winter seemed to have as much talent for carnival games as Weiss did, while Ruby had mentioned at most stalls how Qrow had taken her when her dad was working. Weiss had a sneakings suspicion that Qrow wasn't trying all that hard to win.

The result was a mixed bag of events. Winter had managed to win the first game, a ring toss event, only for Qrow to tie it up on a Skee ball course. On a hook a duck event, Winter had taken the lead again though considering the points were on the bottom of the ducks that had been more luck than anything.

The two rounds after that however, Qrow had won fairly handily, beating her in the air rifles and then the can knockdown. Winter had been getting visibly frustrated at losing two in a row until she managed to tie it up in the last one.

And though Weiss would never say it to her face, it did actually look like Qrows pistol had been shooting less water than her sisters. Really it seemed like Qrow should have won by now but he seemed content to just let their little game play out.

As for Ruby and Weiss, they had been dragged along to every game to act as an unbiased judges for the games. It wasn't too bad, and it was strangely fascinating to see her sister letting her hair down a little, so to speak. However, Weiss as a little bitter that her alone time with Ruby had been cut somewhat short by the feud.

Ruby seemed to be enjoying it though, cheering on her uncle through every game. Weiss didn't have the heart to pull her away from it. She would probably just complain about it later.

"Well I'm still going to win," Winter said with a huff. "No way hurry up and pick the next challenge."

"The word you're looking for is game."

"Weiss gets that confused too," Ruby said, before shrinking under Winters glare. "Uh..."

Weiss rolled her eyes as Ruby looked away quickly leaving the two 'adults' to bicker some more. Tuning out their squabble, Weiss turned to her girlfriend.

"Seriously?"

"Your sister is scary."

"Winter is not scary," Weiss scoffed. "She's no worse than I am."

"..."

"I'm not scary," Weiss half yelled, before catching herself. "Besides that says more about you since you like me."

"Well you're like scary pretty," Ruby said. "Like you could be a Disney villain."

"Thanks and what does that make you."

Ruby puffed herself up to her full height.

"I'd be the pluck young heroine, duh." She smiled. "I'd be so cute and lovable, it would make you mad at first but then you'd fall in love with me and we'd live happily ever after."

"I must have missed that one," Weiss said before she suddenly realising they were alone. "Wait a minute, where'd the year go?"

A quick look around and Ruby soon found them on the gladiators game. Not in line for Gladiators but already set up and the girls had to run over so they could get a good view. How they had done that, Weiss had no idea. She just found herself really wishing that the organisers had kept the slime for loser.

Weiss might have her pride as a Schnee and of course was rooting for Winter to win. She wasn't quite sure what to think of Qrow yet and he seemed rather obnoxious so far. Still wouldnt deny seeing either of them fall in the slime would be immensely satisfying. Alas the dunk tank would have to do.

"Oh yeah, kick her butt Uncle Qrow!"

Okay, pride as a Schnee won out.

"Teach him respect Winter!"

The two combatants stood facing each other, weapons in hand. They both knew, this was the decider. The winner of this would receive priceless bragging rights to hold over the other forever. The loser would drown in humiliation, literally.

Weiss and Ruby watched them, not making a sound lest they distract them. Even the man in charge of the booth seemed to recognise there was something more going on, raising his fingers for the starting countdown.

Three

Two

One

"What is going on here!"

Weiss almost jumped out of her skin and Ruby let out a squeak as a loud authoritative voice rang out from behind them. Qrow let out a groan of annoyance as Winters eyes widened in shock and she jumped back to her old self.

"General Ironwood, sir. I, I... I can explain."

Turning round, Weiss found herself staring up a large military man, dressed in a similar Atlas uniform and looking rather annoyed at the scene he was witnessing. Weiss quickly surmised that it was Winters boss.

"Can you explain Schnee?" He asked sternly. "Why is it that I asked one of my employees to do something over fourty minutes ago and yet here I find him, engaged in heavens knows what with you. You are both meant to be working, are you not?"

Winter seemed to flounder, her mouth opening and closing as she tried and failed to think of an explanation that didn't make her look like a twelve year old. Evidently, she couldn't find one and it was up to Qrow to step up to the plate.

"Look, I was just doing what you asked. I'd almost got Win here to volunteer. Speaking of which."

While Winter was still distracted he swung husband batton, catching her in the rear and sending her toppling off the platform with a cry of surprise. Bouncing on the surface she sat up, fixing Qrow with an incredulous scowl.

"Did you really just aim for my as-"

"Schnee!" Ironwood barked cutting her off. "Not another word."

"But I- Yes sir."

Weiss and Ruby remained quiet as they watched their relatives get scolded. However they though they it was going to end, it had not been like that. As for Ironwoood, he looked like he couldn't tell who to be more annoyed. Eventually he seemed to pick Qrow.

"Brawen, get off that podium and back to your station. You can replace Redford on the tank for an hour and we will have words about this at a more appropriate time."

Qrow just shrugged, jumping off the podium and began to stroll away, completely unphased by Ironwoods threat. Judging from the story's Winter had told, this wasn't born his first warning and would not be his last.

Winter however, looked mortified though she had managed to regain somebody of her dignity getting to her feet. Clearing her throat she stopped in from the of her boss.

"Sir, I would like to apologise for my actions. This behaviour was not acceptable and I accept any punishment you may have for me. I do not expect to be paid for the company token that I wasted playing Qrows game."

"Im glad to hear it. Do not let it happen again."

"Pfft, figures," Qrow said, still within earshot. "Still I did win you know..."

"You cheated!" Winter snapped. "That was a draw at best." Ironwood looked at her. "Sorry sir."

General Ironwood sighed, waving his hand dismissively.

"Both of you, stop bickering, decide who's going first and get out of my site."

"Yeah sure whatever," Qrow said. "I'll just- wait first?"

Winter went pale and while she watched, Weiss felt her heart skip a beat. There wasn't no way.

"Sir you don't mean-"

"Actually I do. I said that Branwen would take an hour. You can take the other. You did both wage company time did you not."

"Look Jimmy, much as I'd love to see the Ice Queen in that tank. I was the one who started this. Leave her out of it."

"My decision is final Brawen. You will both take equal blame for this incident. Now please, report to your post."

With that, he walked away leaving two very shocked Atlas employees, a jaw dropped Ruby who couldn't quite believe what she had just witnessed and a very ecstatic younger sister.

* * *

Winter Schnee looked rather nervous. She sat above the rather cold looking water, her legs dangling off her rather precarious perch and Weiss couldn't help but feel just feel a little bit sorry for her.

Not that sorry though, this was like a dream come true for a younger sister. Winter was stuck on dunk tank duty for the next hour. An hour of crowds lining up for chance to dunk the upper class looking woman who looked like she would rather be anywhere else. Already it looked to be the most profitable hour of the festival.

And guess who was first in line.

"Isn't this is a little mean?" Ruby asked her. "I mean, she is your sister."

"I'm a Disney villain remember," Weiss said with a smirk. Ruby shot her a look making Weiss pout. "Come on, that was funny. Besides, Tell me, if you had Yang in this position, wouldn't you take advantage."

Ruby paused for a moment.

"Yeah okay I get it."

"Exactly, besides it's not like I forced this on her. Winter got into this predicament all on her own." Weiss grinned. "Now this will be fun. Do you have a good angle?"

Ruby nodded, holding up Weiss's scroll so she could record the events for prosperity. Weiss had to hold in a giggle. This was going to be so great and Weiss intended to never let her sister forget this.

"I hope you're enjoying this," Winter said glaring down at them.

She was obviously trying to seem confident but Weiss could tell by the way Winter fidgeted with her borrowed shorts that Winter was not happy. Honestly Winter was lucky there had been someone in her size, lest she be spending the hour in her regular work attire that would likely not last well underwater.

"Oh don't worry Winter, I am," Weiss replied with a smile before turning to Qrow. "So how many chances do I get?"

Qrow looked at her, a mixture of amusement and concern on his face, obviously torn between his enjoyment of the situation, slight guilt over its escalation and worry for his niece. Probably his own safety too.

"You sure know how to pick Rubes," he said. "Two goes for what ya paid. Make em count. If I had my sister up there, I'd make sure every one of them hit. Course,my sister probably deserves it more than yours."

"I am going to kill you for this Qrow," Winter said, crossing her arms with a huff. "It's your fault I'm in this mess."

"Look I said I was sorry. Didn't think Ironwood would really hold you to it. I'm after you anyway so feel free to take a crack after your hours up."

"You can go after me. You're so in for it Uncle Qrow," Ruby said before noticing Winters glare. "Or you can go first if you want..."

Weiss didn't waste anymore time taking two of the balls and stepping up to the line. She wasn't actually quite sure how this would go. Precision throwing wasn't really her thing and she had considered just asking Ruby to throw instead. However the opportunity to do it herself was to good to pass up so she was willing to risk throwing herself.

Dropping the one ball on the ground, Weiss looked over to see if Ruby was ready before shooting Winter a final grin.

"Cheer up Winter. It's for a good cause."

"Oh I swear I will get you back for this Weiss."

Giggling to herself, Weiss lined up her shot. Taking a deep breath, she aimed towards the circular target that held Winter up. Drawing back her arm, she prayed to anyone that might be listening that her aim be true and then threw the ball with all her might.

 _ **Clang**_

The ball struck the target right in the centre. For the briefest moment, Winter seemed for hang in the air like a cartoon, then gravity took hold of her and with a startled squawk, Winter splashed down into the water. The assembled crowd all waiting for a go, let up a cheer and Weiss felt better about her previous loss in the tournament. It was nice to be cheered for once.

Winter broke the surface, coughing and spluttering, her normal pristine white hair, plastered to face and looking rather undignified. Her face was slightly pink, embarrassed by the attention but hopefully recognising that for once, people weren't laughing at a Schnees humiliation, rather everyone was just here to have a good time.

Perhaps that was why Winter didn't put a fuss, reset the chair and climbed back up with as much grace as her sopping wet clothes would allow. Wiping her hair out of her face, Winter rested her hands on her legs waiting for the next person to take their turn.

Only to find Weiss was still standing at the line, a grin still on her face.

"You know Winter," she said, picking up another ball. "I did technically pay for two goes."

 _ **Clang**_

 _ **Splash**_

* * *

 **Authors note**

 _ **Just a small interlude here, next chapter will round off the Vytal Arc. I swear I'll dial back the slapstick after that. Let me know how you are liking the challenges and how I can improve them for the next chapter. Also let me know which team you are rooting for to win. Thanks for reading.**_


	32. Chapter 32

"Here look at this bit."

 _"Cheer up Winter. It's for a good cause."_

 _"Oh, I swear I will get you back for this Weiss."_

 ** _CLANG_**

 ** _SPLASH_**

Weiss cackled again, as though she was experiencing it all again for the first time. In actuality, Weiss had lost count over how many times she had actually watched it. She had shown it to everyone, she knew that, but a few people she had showed twice, maybe more. Despite all that it still had lost none of its appeal. If anything, it got better each time.

"You seem to be really enjoying this," Blake said, having grown tired of it, three showings ago. "I mean, I like seeing Schnees embarrassed but come on."

"You wouldn't understand Blake. You don't have a sibling," Weiss began before pausing. "At least I don't think you do."

Blake just looked at her.

"No, I'm an only child."

"Hey, don't be mad at me. You never talk about yourself, what am I meant to do?"

"Yeah Weiss do yourself a favour," Sun said. "Don't start this argument. It doesn't end well."

Blake glared at him.

"You thought I was an orphan!"

"We were dating for months and you never mentioned them. I just assumed."

"Who assumes that?"

To be honest, Weiss had, though she decided to keep that fact to herself. Blake had parents? Who knew?

"Look I'm just saying maybe mention them, more than five minutes before I meet them."

"We talking about Blakes hot mom?" Yang asked. "Or are we still watching about Winters hot sister getting wet?"

Weiss sighed, closing her scroll. Well that video was ruined now. Oh well it was fun while it lasted. Blake however, glared daggers at the blonde who just smiled happily with a curious looking Coco.

"How hot we talking?"

"What is wrong with you two?" Blake groaned. "And why are you looking on your scroll?"

Yang didn't answer quickly tapping through her scroll, her brows furrowed as she searched for the right picture. Evidently, she found it letting out a 'hah' of triumphant and leaning over to her girlfriend to show her the picture. Cocos eyes brow raised and she took off her aviators to get a better look.

"Damn, she is hot."

"I hate all of you."

Weiss leaned over, to find a picture of Blake covering her red face while a grinning Yang and an older woman with cat ears threw up peace signs on either side of her.

"Well this can't be right," Weiss said. "You said you didn't have any siblings, Blake. This is clearly your younger sister."

"That's it, I'm throwing the challenge," Blake declared, throwing up her arms. "I don't care how JNPR are doing right now. I can guarantee you we will soon be doing worse."

The four of them laughed as Blake silently fumed but the mention of their competition, Weiss found herself glancing over in the direction of the obstacle course. It was the last challenge of the day and though she would never admit it, Weiss was nervous.

Not just about the forfeit (though the thought of enduring a pie from Nora didn't bear thinking about. Weiss just knew the redhead would rub it in... literally). No humiliation aside, more than anything else, Weiss just didn't want Ruby to lose.

Today was their final send-off before the relationship went long distance. Weiss wanted this day to be perfect for her and for the most part, Weiss though she had succeeded. Ruby had been having fun, taking Weiss around the festival and playing the games together. Sure, Weiss had limited the rollercoasters somewhat but Ruby had enjoyed her uncles time in the dunk tank as much as Weiss had enjoyed Winters.

Okay maybe not as much and Qrow had been a far better sport than Winter had been.

But this competition, friendly though it may be, was important to Ruby. JNPR always managed to come out on top and Weiss wanted to leave Ruby with the sweet taste of victory for once. If she could do that, then Weiss knew the day would be perfect.

And yes, she also wanted to pie Nora and knock her down a peg.

But all that depended on how JNPR were doing in the obstacle course. The final challenge involved the entire team and having won the coin toss, Jaune had elected his team to go first.

Ruby was watching them, to see how they did but the rest of RWBY had to wait at the sides lest they see JNPRs run and get an unfair advantage... wow they really took this too seriously.

Never the less, Weiss was determined for Team RWBY to be victorious. They were ready, they had trained and when the crowds surrounding the course let out a cheer, Blake and Yang hugged their partners good luck and Weiss knew, it was time to give it their all.

* * *

"Well that sucked!" Nora said with a huge grin on her face. "That was way harder than I thought it would be."

Weiss had to admit, she was a little taken aback. They had met JNPR and Ruby as they were heading to the entrance and honestly, they looked like they had been through the wars.

All four of them looked exhausted, their clothes either soaking wet, covered in powder slime or in Jaunes case, completely ripped. Pyrrhas hair was hanging loose, her ponytail having somehow come undone. Ren's hair looked like a rainbow of various colours of dust and Nora was splashed in slime though she didn't seem to really care, particularly when compared to Yang's extreme reaction. Even know it seemed like she didn't want to stand too close to the red head.

In fact, despite how rough they looked, they all looked confident and Weiss found herself feeling a little nervous. Then she saw the determined look on Rubys face and found herself reinvigorated. Team RWBY could do this and they would do this.

"Well I'm sure you all tried your best," Weiss said. "Don't be too disappointed with your time."

"I wouldn't sound so confident if I were you," Pyrrha warned. "A lesser team might really struggle with some of those obstacles. I can't speak for the rest of you but my section was rather gruelling."

"That's Pyrrhas way of shit talking."

"Nora!"

The group laughed as Pyrrha went a little pink. Weiss wanted to ask more questions about the course but it didn't really seem in the spirit of things. They needed to win properly.

Beside they knew roughly what they were getting into. One obstacle relay race that they all had to compete in. Each section had different obstacles and none of them would know who would be doing what. They didn't even know JNPRs order so it would mostly be random.

Still Ruby had tried to put some strategy into it. She would be starting, being a fast sprinter. Yang would be second with Blake third. Weiss would be last finishing the race. Weiss had a feeling it was because she was weak link and need the others to boost her a little though Ruby had tried to persuade her that wasn't the reason.

She had, however, been unable to think of another reason.

A voice rang out over a megaphone letting RWBY know it was time for them to assemble for the course. There was quite a crowd gathered with lots of people interested in seeing attempts at the course. In fact, it was so popular that it actually had a running commentary by the two men who had opened the festival.

In a way, Weiss felt like she was on a game show. Atlesian Ninja warrior or Ultimate Grimm Master, something like that. Shows Weiss only knew the name of because Ruby liked them so much and talked about going on at some point in the future. This must be why.

As JNPR wished them luck and they headed towards the entrance, Nora suddenly called out.

"Hey Weiss, you should go right at the end!"

Confused by the seemingly random outburst, Weiss didn't have time to answer before Nora was out of sight. Perhaps it would make sense soon when she got to the course but right now, Weiss didn't have the foggiest idea what to hat meant.

* * *

Oh, that little ginger...

Okay Weiss understood now what Nora had meant and damn the girl was devious. Having been chosen to finish the race, Weiss hadn't got much of a glimpse at what the others would be doing but her obstacles were all visible to her.

To start she had to climb a slick slope with a rope dangling half way down. With a running start, she should be able to reach it and even her poor stamina would allow her to climb the short hill fairly easily.

That was, if there was only one rope, not four. Only one was actually tied meaning she would likely fall right down to the bottom should she fail to choose correctly. Not exactly great odds and the bottom of the ramp had pooled into a soapy foam, just to add insult to injury.

However, once she passed that and slid down the other side, Weiss would be facing a balance beam over a pool of slime. That explained why the event organisers had been keen to take back the slime from the earlier challenges. How cheap.

To throw a spanner in the works, Weiss would also have to try and projectiles swinging on ropes, thrown by eager volunteers aiming knock her down. She couldn't tell how deep the slime was but it would definitely slow her down and she could hardly afford to be knocked on her ass.

The third obstacle was a tangled rope maze. A three-meter run that was simple a mess of ropes that Weiss would have to work her way through. It looked the hardest out of three, no tricks or punishments, just climbing, ducking and forcing her way through.

And after that, Weiss was on the home sketch. A small run toward a wooden frame that had two entrances, each one papered over for her to jump through to finish the race. And there came in why Weiss was currently cursing Nora's name.

They had told her that one door would finish the race and that the other would lead to a nasty surprise (Weiss suspected something green and sticky) as well as adding thirty seconds to their time.

Nora obviously now knew which door was the correct one though Weiss didn't know if she had gotten it right. She had been slimed but that could have been from the balance beam. No Weiss had to assume that Nora had gotten it right meaning that if Weiss got it wrong, it would likely lose them the race no matter how well they did.

The diabolical redhead had taken this fifty-fifty choice and turned it into a complex mind game for Weiss. Obviously, Nora wouldn't tell her the right answer, so the left door had to be safe one. But Nora would no doubt think of that and therefore Weiss could deduce that the right door was in fact the correct one. Yet it was that very reasoning that meant Weiss would be a fool to pick any other than the left one...

Dammit Nora.

Well she didn't have time to work it out as in that moment, Blake suddenly appeared atop the inflatable mountain that's was behind Weiss. She slid down it, landing in a pile of the coloured dust that shot into the air with the impact. Her team mate looked tired and bedraggled but determined none the less and she slapped Weiss's hand to end her run and now it was all down to Weiss.

Not wasting time, Weiss set off at a run, trying to pick up speed as she headed towards the foamy ramp. She tried to block out the cheering surrounding her lest she get distracted but found the commentary impossible to ignore.

" _And with that truly impressive run, Team RWBYs hopes all rest on young Weiss."_

Great. No pressure then. Weiss was just glad they didn't have access to her surname. It was unlikely anyone would make the connection but it was still someone she wanted to avoid.

" _Yes indeed, the newest employee of my favourite cafe, Weiss has a lot to prove. Let's hope the "Slip and Slide" doesn't clean her out."_

Soapy water splashed under Weiss's foot as she reached the ramp and the young heiress pushed off with all her strength, determined to reach the top. The ramp immediately started to live up to its name and she soon found herself loosing grip.

Not wanting to fall, Weiss instead made a dive for one of the ropes only to cry out in dismay as it pulled right out and Weiss slid on her stomach back down the ramp. The cries of sympathy from the crowd only made her feel worse as she landed in the foamy water.

 _"Oh, an unfortunate start for Weiss. Let's hope she has better luck on her next attempt."_

Climbing to her feet, Weiss took a few steps back for a run up and threw herself at the ramp again. Again, the slick surface threatened to send her tumbling but this time when she grabbed the rope, it pulled taunt. Grinning at her luck, Weiss pulled herself to the top of the ramp and slid face first down the other side only for her eyes to widen in shock as she saw what was waiting for her.

 ** _Splash_**

 _"Ahh, perhaps someone should have warned Weiss that both sides of the 'Slip and Slide' are rather foamy?"_

Glaring, Weiss pulled her face out of the soapy water and clambered to her feet. That must have been karma for Winters dunk tank. Or perhaps, she thought nervously, her eyes drifting towards the final obstacle, karma was waiting to give Winter a slimier satisfaction.

Pushing the thoughts from her mind, Weiss tried to focus on the task at hand.

" _Now Weiss comes to the 'Scorpions Tails'-"_

Oh, so that's what those were meant to be.

"- _will she triumph or will she meet a sticky end like our last contestant?"_

Hah, so Nora had fallen here. That was a lovely mental image for Weiss to imagine as she ran towards the obstacle. Though her schadenfreude soon disappeared as she remembered her strategy here.

Oh, they had better win this.

Grimacing, Weiss didn't slow down as she reaches the obstacle and jumped past the balance beam completely and landed in the slime. As she suspected, it only reached a about half way to her knee meaning that she was through and out the pit much faster than had she tried to do it properly.

Perhaps it wasn't in spirit of the games but there were no rules against it and this saved her from being knocked in anyway by the first swinging tail. Besides the crowds seemed to approve.

 _"Oh, ho ho, not just a pretty face after all. Making up for her earlier slip up, Weiss is proving she can pull her weight. Let's see if she can keep it up on the 'Spiders Web'"_

Well that was a backhanded compliment if ever Weiss had heard one. Couldn't they just appreciate her and move on? It's not like they had to run through a slime pit. Grimacing, she reached the end, rather happy to be back on solid ground and ran on to the maze.

It was aptly named. The section was so tightly packed with ropes hanging from either side that it did resemble a cobweb. To start the ropes formed a circular hole and Weiss cursed her small stature as she pushed her head through and almost tumbled onto face first onto the ground.

The maze was rather hard going, much more of a workout than the other two had been. There wasn't a clear path and Weiss was constantly switching between low crouches or climbing up to get through.

Panting she finally made it through to the other side. She was sweating profusely and probably had rope burn but she had made it, even if it had slowed her down. Even with Rubys 'training', she was still fairly unfit. Compared to her fencing days, she was practically a slob.

Still it was the home stretch now and Weiss wasn't about to let poor stamina stop her now. Blocking out everything, even the 'wonderful' commentators and cheering crowds. And she especially blocked out Nora's words for her to pick the right door. It was obviously a ploy and she should go left... right. Dammit.

The blocked doors were getting closer and she had to make a decision. Right or left? A choice that could win or lose them the race and there was no way to narrow it downs no clues or puzzle to solve. Just a simple binary choice.

Letting out a curse under her breath, Weiss headed towards the right-hand door. She sprinted towards it, hoping against hope that she was right.

Twenty feet

Ten feet

Five feet

Taking a deep breath Weiss launched herself into the air, breaking through the paper blocking the doorway with her dive. Fully horizontal she forced herself to look down and see her what lay beneath her and her heart almost stopped as she saw green...

To her left.

Weiss crashed onto the mat and bouncing back to reality to hear the crowds let out a cheer. Rolling over she looked up, hoping to see someone sign of whether or not it had been enough. Sitting up Weiss looked around for some indication of their final time already starting to feel nervous.

She had picked the right door but would that be enough? She had been rather slow in the rope maze and she had fallen on the slip and Slide. Maybe they would add time for her skipping one of the obstacles and in an effort to be clever she really might have just ruined everything and-

 _Thump_

With a squawk of surprise, Weiss was bowled by a red blur that appeared from nowhere to tackle her into a hug. Caught in a death grip of Rubys embrace, Weiss could do nothing to escape even as she tried to wriggle free.

"Ruby, let go of me."

"Nope, too happy. Sorry."

"You're gross."

Ruby finally eased her grip, grinning down at her. Her face was half obscured by blue powder and she was soaked to the bone, obvious having similarly themed obstacles to Weiss herself, but despite her state she had one of the biggest smiles on her face that Weiss had ever seen.

And despite, Weiss's own sweaty, tired and generally disgusting state, she couldn't help but smile back.

"Wow way to commit Weiss," Yang said, joining them with Blake at her side. "If you had gotten that wrong, you would have had it worse than me. Major props."

Weiss scoffed mostly to cover her own pink cheeks and tried keep the pride out of her voice.

"It was nothing really. No risk when you know you're right."

"You were awesome."

"Rubys right, you did great," Blake said with a smile. "In fact, we all did. Yang and I got our time while Ruby ran over to jump you and guess what?"

* * *

"Three cheers for team RWBY! Hip Hip."

"Hooray!" Three voices cheered out happily.

"Hip Hip."

"Hooray," three different voices said half-heartedly.

Weiss watched Ruby grin as she stood, pie in hand and staring expectantly the at the stocks.

"Hip Hip"

"Do I really have to say it," Jaune said, his head poking out from wood, hands on either side.

Ruby paused for a moment, as for weighing up her options.

"You know, I guess you don't."

 ** _Splat_**

Putting her aim to good use, Rubys threw true hitting Jaune square in the face obscuring it completely behind cream. Shaking his head so that the tin casing fell to the ground, Jaune stared at them.

"Hooray?"

Ruby giggled again as she ran over to let him out, stopping for a moment to take a selfie, before handing him a towel and letting Ren take Jaunes place. Weiss watched her with a smile as Ruby enjoyed their victory, happy she had been a part of it. A key part of it, some might say. Perhaps even the winning piece.

It had been close in the end, RWBY only winning by ten seconds or so. JNPR had a good run and despite falling on the balance, Nora had picked the right doorway as well. Had Weiss picked the wrong door or taken much longer on maze, it would have been her nervously waiting not JNPR.

 ** _Splat_**

With a smirk at her dead eye throw, Blake turned back to them, not bothering with the selfie. Not that it would have been a good picture, she had thrown it so well, the casing was still stuck to Ren's face.

"So, who's up next?"

Both of the remaining girls glanced at each other.

"Umm-"

"Pyrrha," Nora said quickly earning a look. "I mean, age before beauty..."

Sighing, Pyrrha nodded, heading towards the stocks as Yang grinned.

"Get nice and comfy Pyrrha, I got a pie with your name on it."

It was true, Yang had swiped some chocolate sauce from a waffle stand just to make the joke. Shaking her head with a small chuckle, Pyrrha pulled her hair back in her ponytail before dutifully taking her place in the pillory booth. Once she was in and Ruby had made sure it was secure, Yang picked up her pie.

Never one to just get something over with, Yang threw a few fake throws to try and psyche her out a little. It worked mostly, eliciting a few flinches and nervous laughter from Pyrrha before Yang finally let fly for real.

 ** _Splat_**

Luckily for Pyrrha, Yang wasn't as good a thrower, only catching Pyrrha in the top half of the face leaving her embarrassed grimace still visible. Grinning, Yang practically skipped up, picked up the fallen tin and placed on Pyrrhas head like a hat before taking her victory selfie.

Which just left Weiss.

"Welp would you look at the time," Nora announced. "We should probably get going if we want to enjoy the-" Jaune and Ren grabbed her from either side. "Hey wait, you traitors!"

Nora protested as she was half dragged to the stocks but J_PR was clearly subscribing for a misery loves company approach and it wasn't long before, Nora's head was sticking out of the stocks, a pout on her face.

"Boo!"

Weiss laughed, watching Nora shake her head in the booth. Who would have thought, Nora would be so against getting pied? Ren was always stopping her from starting food fights and she was the type of worker who cleaned up spills with her sleeve. Oh well, it was just going to make this even more enjoyable.

Picking up the remaining pie, Weiss gleefully stepped up to the firing line. Upon seeing it, Nora's eyes widened in shock.

"What the hell Weiss, that's like size of all the others combined!"

Weiss scoffed.

"Nora you're being ridiculous. It's the same size as the others."

It wasn't. Weiss had slipped the guy running the booth a little extra to make her pie bigger than the others. He hasn't let her down. The tin was practically stacked to the moon. Still it made it quite a bit heavier than the others and Weiss wasn't really confident with her throwing skills...

Deciding not to waste her chance, Weiss took a deep breath, pulled back her arm and...

Quickly ran forward and smushed it into Nora's face.

"Hey wait, you can't-"

 ** _Splat_**

Nora's protests were cut off as Weiss gleefully pied her. It was almost like a cartoon, with the pie being so big that it enveloped Nora completely, with not a speck of ginger hair visible.

"Bleh!" Nora said, spitting out cream. "Ren! Avenge my honour... oh wait, never mind."

Giggling to herself, Weiss didn't really listen, crouching down to take a selfie.

"Smile."

Her scroll went off with a flash and Weiss stood up, checking to see how the photo had come out. Happily, it came out perfectly, truly catching the moment. So perfectly in fact, Weiss barely heard Ruby speak as she studied the picture.

"Uhh Weiss?"

Oh, this was so great. A tad childish perhaps but between this, winning the games and dunking Winter, Weiss felt on top of the world. Now she could go finish the day with Ruby knowing that this day had gone absolutely perfectly.

"Hello sister."

Surprised, Weiss looked up from her scroll to see Winter standing before her, a smile on her face. Weiss couldn't help but frown, wondering why her sister was here and looked so pleased. Then she saw the pied Winter had in each hand.

"Winter don-"

 ** _Splat_**

"You know Weiss, I did technically pay for two goes."

 ** _Splat_**

* * *

 _"_ I cannot believe she did that," Weiss said for the thousandth time.

Ruby giggled earning a glare from her girlfriend.

"Hey, you're meant to be on my side."

"I am. Doesn't mean it wasn't funny."

"Hey!"

"And you did have it coming."

"Uhh," Weiss said indignantly.

"Oh, come on, you were being very smug. Plus, you cheated with Nora. Not my fault Karma exists," Ruby said with a grin.

Weiss let out a huff, turning her back on Ruby in annoyance as she stared out the window of the Ferris wheel. After her sister had humiliated her (and then taken a selfie) Winter had left her alone to get cleaned up, saying she would be home late.

Apparently, Atlas was doing a company night out to celebrate finishing the festival. Honestly Weiss was kinda surprised Winter was even going. Someone had convinced her to go last minute though she hadn't really elaborated.

That had left Weiss trying to clean herself up as best she could with a towel that had already been used by four people. Worst part was that by this point, the festival was close to finishing up for the day and the showers had been closed. A used towel was all she had.

Ruby had helped her out and despite her huffing, Weiss had been convinced (very reluctantly) to go on a few more rides before they went home. They had stayed away from the big rollercoasters though.

Staring out the window, she felt Rubys arms slide around her waist and hug her from behind. Despite herself, Weiss her annoyance melt away as Ruby rested her chin on Weiss's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, "she said quietly. "I'm ruining this aren't I?"

"No, you couldn't do that. Not after you worked so hard." Ruby sighed. "Besides, we still won, I got to pie Jaune and I got to spend all day with my best friends. Today was almost perfect."

Weiss frowned turning her head round to look at her.

"Almost?"

"Yeah," Ruby said with a smile before leaning closer. "Almost."

Understanding dawned and Weiss smiled, closing the gap between them. The two of them kissed, alone at the top of the Ferris wheel, the glow of the festival lighting up the nights sky for them and them alone.

"There," Ruby said as they came apart breathless. "Now it's perfect."

"Oh, I don't know," Weiss said, letting her hand creep its way around Rubys waist. "I'm sure I could improve things a little. Winter did say she would be home late..."

Her girlfriends smile grew into a mischievous grin and Weiss could only imagine (and imagine she did) the wicked thoughts flashing through her mind. Just the two of them alone in the apartment with no need to care about being loud.

And then Rubys face suddenly fell.

"I- I can't," she said quietly. "We have to leave early tomorrow. A lot of move, you know."

"Right. Patch is pretty far away."

"Yeah. You have to take two buses."

"Hmm," Weiss said not quite sure what else to say. "It's going to be strange when you're gone."

"You're telling me," Ruby said. "I have to live with like 5 other people! They're going to think I'm weird."

"Probably but they'll like you anyway."

"You really think so?"

"If they don't they don't deserve you. Then they'll have me to answer to."

Ruby laughed, snuggling closer and leaning into Weiss some more. Weiss shivered slightly but not from the cold. Just the knowledge that Ruby wouldn't be around anymore was enough to make her feel emptier.

"I really liked today," Ruby said suddenly. "Thank you for that."

"I didn't do anything."

Ruby smiled.

"Yes, you did."

They sat there together on the wheel, watching the different parts of their city appear and disappear as the wheel turned. It was quiet yet wonderful, something that Weiss wished would be able to last forever.

But of course, it couldn't. Soon it was over and the two had to say their good byes. Taiyang dropped Weiss off at her apartment and Ruby hugged her, making her promise to phone and message her every day.

Weiss rolled her eyes, told Ruby she was making a fuss over nothing. This move wasn't going to change anything and they would still see each other all the time. Yet still she promised and hugged her back.

Then morning came and Ruby was gone.


	33. Chapter 33

Weiss sighed. She been doing that a lot recently. Part of her knew it was kinda pathetic that she was acting like a love-sick puppy but the other parts didn't really care.

The last month had been awful. In the aftermath of the Vytal festival, everything had slowed down a lot. With no more training, everyone was just taking some time to themselves.

Blake and Sun had visited Blakes family for a week but even when she was around Blake didn't really create plans anyway. She was content to enjoy her own company and catch up on her reading.

Yang had tried to bring stuff together, feeling the absence as much as Weiss did but at the end of the day, Yang had Coco to occupy her time. It was becoming more and more common for Coco to visit work during the day and more than once Weiss had to shoo her out the door after it became clear Yang wasn't going to be doing work with her around.

Nora and Ren had been enjoying their relationship status though the less said about that the better. Of course, it was Nora so Weiss had her far too much detail about what those two got up to after hours. Copious details.

And all of it just made Weiss feel more alone.

It was crazy really. She hadn't quite realised how much she had relied on Rubys company until she was gone. Sure, Ruby phoned and messaged her most days, letting her know about how much she was enjoying art school. How cool her room mates were and how much fun she was having...

She was trying hard not to be bitter and to support Ruby. She listened to her girlfriend talk about her classes, she gave her opinions on Rubys newest drawings and when Ruby was being too introverted for her own good, Weiss told her to suck it up and go out with her new friends.

Weiss sighed, hearing the sound echoed by the red head sitting next to her.

Pyrrha had been her life line in the last month. As her only single friend (apart from Jaune, and let's be real) Pyrrha was having as miserable time as she was. Their common moping helped Weiss take her mind off Ruby being absent. Plus, Pyrrha was fun to hang out with in a different way than the others. She was calmer, more collected and intellectual. It was nice every once and a while.

Of course, in a group like hers that never lasted long. Realising that they hadn't done anything since the festival, Yang had dragged them all out to a karaoke bar for a girl's night out. Nora had protested saying it wasn't fair that Yang got to bring her girlfriend while Nora couldn't bring Ren but in the end, she had relented.

"Alright," Yang said, coming back into the room with a tray of drinks. "Next rounds on someone else."

"Babe what's this," Coco asked. "We didn't order shots."

"Yeah honesty I forgot what half of you ordered and they all seemed rather weak anyway. So, I just ordered what I thought you would all like... Plus tequila."

There was a round of groans at the thought of the shots that was sure to ruin their night.

"I wish I could say I'm surprised," Blake said with a wry smile. "So, what's our poison?"

"Strawberry Sunrise for me and my bae," Yang replied.

"Please don't ever use that word again," Weiss said.

"Thanks Bae," Coco said.

"Electric Margarita for Nora."

"Thanks Bae."

"Bloody Mary for Pyrrha, Mojito for Velvet, a Weiss Russian."

Weiss rolled her eyes taking the drink. Yang was lucky she happened to like White Russians, though she could never indulge and risk an onslaught of teasing.

"And I wish I could say I was surprised," Blake said with a roll of her eyes. "What did you get me?"

"Blake Russian."

"...Touché."

The group laughed as Blake shook her head and like that, the night had begun. Shots were shot with Velvet almost choking. Apparently, she didn't drink all that much. Weiss got the impression she had come out with them more because Coco had asked than a love of nights out. Glancing over at Blake, Weiss briefly wondered if it was a Faunus thing but decided not to ask.

After a few minutes of musing over the karaoke book, Coco and Yang managed to agree on a song. The first of many in all likelihood, Weiss couldn't imagine that the remaining group was into singing all that much.

Still it was a nice place and even if they were all singing, they could still talk and hear each other without the songs overpowering completely. They had booked ahead of time so they a room to themselves but even without strangers watching them, Weiss couldn't see Blake or Pyrrha singing easily.

As the couple fussed over their selection, Weiss felt her scroll vibrate. Taking it out she found a message from Ruby. She was also out tonight with her five roommates and had just finished getting ready. Though considering they were going to a UV party, Weiss wasn't sure how it had taken long.

The scroll buzzed again, a picture of Ruby grinning next to one of her new friends, both dressed in white t-shirts. Ugh how could Ruby make a white t-shirt look good. She glared at Rubys friend Ciel who looked somewhat confused to be in picture. She didn't even appreciate how good she had it.

Finally, the music started, the song Weiss recognising from a musical. Shaking her head at their selection of one of the most cliché songs they could have picked. Still with Yang, would they really have picked anything else?

Humming along with the songs introduction, both girls showed their incredible coordination as they both started singing at the same time.

"Summer loving, had- hey. I thought I was Danny."

"Babe," Coco said with a chuckle. "Babe, babe babe. I love you but I'm clearly the Danny here."

"Come on Co, look at me." Yang gestured at herself with the mic. "Total stud, in which got to be Danny."

"And who has the car?"

There was a moments pause.

"Fine, you can be Danny."

Coco grinned as they reset the song.

"Oh well, oh well, oh well, oh well huh," Coco sang punctuated with a hip thrust to the side.

Beside her Weiss saw Velvet face palm.

"She's always like this."

* * *

A few songs later they decided to have break. After Coco and Yang's 'stellar' performance, Weiss had sung, Nora had lent her voice to a just 'wonderful' song, Weiss had sung, Pyrrha and Velvet had mumbled their ways through a song after much convincing, Weiss had sung...

Hey, it wasn't her fault that she had an amazing voice. They were lucky they she got to hear her sing so much. Plus, it helped take her mind off things. Tonight, was turning into a welcome distraction.

"Enjoying yourself," Blake asked. "If you want we can leave so you can just keep singing."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want to go? I didn't realise you wanted to sing so badly Blake."

Yang snorted.

"For the good of everyone, I'm glad Blake isn't singing."

"It's not like any of us are professional singers Yang," Pyrrha said.

"Speak for yourselves," Weiss said.

Pyrrha rolled her eyes before continuing.

"What I mean to say is that I'm sure Blake isn't that bad a singer."

"Thanks," Blake muttered.

Pyrrha flushed red, embarrassed by her unintentional insult. Yang just laughed.

"Way to dig deeper Pyr," she said. "Besides that's not what I meant. Blakey's not a bad singer, she just has terrible taste. She's probably picked something horribly depressing and not partyish at all."

"And on that note," Coco said, standing up. "I'll go get another round. Babe come help."

"Hey, I got the last set by myself."

"That's because you didn't ask, I did."

"And what do I get in return," Yang said, with a playful smirk.

If she was expecting the question to throw Coco off however, she was sadly mistaken as the fashion queen answered without missing a beat.

"Well when we get home I can wear the costume I always see you staring at but are too embarrassed to ask me for."

Yang's face went beat red as five sets of eyes turned to look at her. She opened her mouth, then quickly closed it before clearing her throat and smartly heading to the bar. Coco laughed and followed her leaving the remaining girls in a moments silence before-

"So, what do you think the costume is?"

"Nora," Pyrrhas said mortified. "Don't think about that."

"Why costume and not clothes though?"

"Weiss!"

"Coco has a lot of modelling stuff. Maybe this one's a bit more complicated."

"Blake."

"Or maybe there's not enough there to be counted as actual clothing," Weiss said. "Velvet you modelled for her once?"

"Nothing like that!"

Pyrrhas head hit the table, looking like she wanted to melt through the floor rather than talk about Yang's interests in the bedroom. Nora however seemed to miss this, too engrossed by her own theories. Or perhaps, she just didn't care.

"Costumes are too much work, you just have to take it off anyway." She grinned, a little buzzed from her previous drink. "I just start naked. Tends to have good results."

"Oh, for the love of god."

"It's true," Velvet murmured softly.

"Okay, maybe we should move on before Pyrrha hyperventilates," Weiss said, with a smirk. "Out of curiosity, Blake what party rock anthem did you choose? You know, since you're so fun."

"..."

"Blake?"

"On my own."

"From Les Mis?"

"Maybe."

Weiss blinked, Blakes choice in song suddenly reverting her back to her previous mood of bitterness and loneliness. Sitting among friends she could trust, this would probably be the perfect time to talk about it.

So of course, she simply snorted in forced amusement.

"Oh of course, 'Alone' is the perfect song choice for you."

"Yes," Pyrrha said bitterly. "Tell me, how is your long-term relationship with a loving boyfriend?"

"Shut up."

"Let me guess, sometimes he's just too attentive?"

"Really so I guess it's my fault that Rubys away then," Blake said with a roll of her eyes. "And Sun does text me all the time. It can just get annoying sometimes, that's all. It's not like I'm going to run off or anything..."

Nora groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, tell me about. Ren's the same. He's always asking, how I am, asking about my day, saying he loves me."

Velvet frowned.

"Haven't you text him like eight times since we sat down?"

"Well yeah."

Velvet paused waiting for a follow up, some sort of explanation for Nora's behaviour. It was cute really. Still so much to learn. After a brief pause, Weiss made to continue only for Pyrrha to say something that made everyone stop.

"I asked Jaune out."

Weiss almost dropped her glass.

"What?"

Pyrrha nodded.

"I asked him last week if he wanted to see a movie." She chuckled slightly. "He thought I meant as friends at first. Asked which movie."

"Well, how was it?" Blake asked. "You're date."

"Yeah," Nora said excitedly. "Have you kissed yet? Have you said I love you? Ooo we can double date. We should go for dinner and then during the dinner, we can leave the boys and-"

"He said no."

And there was the second stunned silence.

"What?" Nora said confused.

"Oh," Blake said.

"He's actually gay."

"Weiss," Blake hissed. "Seriously?"

"What? There's no other reason that Jaune would turn down someone like Pyrrha. Look at her, she's like a goddess. There's no way a straight man would say no."

Pyrrha laughed softly.

"Apparently he can."

And for a third time the table fell silent, no one quite sure what to say. Pyrrha and Jaune had always seemed kinda inevitable to Weiss. Sure, she had never found Jaune attractive... remotely but she could see why Pyrrha would like him... objectively. Then again people liked her and at least Jaune was capable of being openly nice to people.

But yeah, it was meant to just be a matter of time. Eventually Jaune was meant to notice the neon signs that Pyrrha was into him and they'd get together. This wasn't what was meant to happen.

Pyrrha sniffed slightly before smiling again.

"I'm fine really. Sorry for killing the mood. It's just, I know me loving Jaune has always been a bit of a joke in the group but if you could just-" she swallowed. "If you could just tone it down for a while, I don't want anyone getting upset over... excuse me. I need some air."

Standing up quickly, Pyrrha almost knocked her seat over as she rushed to the door. Opening it, she nearly knocked in Yang and Coco returning with the drinks.

"Oh, hey Pyr we got-" Yang frowned. "Pyrrha what's wrong?"

* * *

Weiss found Pyrrha out back in the smoker's area. She left the others to explain things to Yang, figuring it was best not to overcrowd Pyrrha. No doubt Yang would want to help but she wasn't the best choice. She had Coco, it was just going to make things worse.

Yeah, it was the same with Nora and even Velvet. Weiss probably wasn't much better but at least her relationship wasn't right in front of Pyrrhas face.

Pyrrha was sitting on the steps, leaning against the hand rail. Her eyes were closed, deceptively making her look peaceful. Weiss paused in the doorway, unsure of how to approach before Pyrrha beat her to.

"Deja vu," she said, softly but still making Weiss jump. "Except this time, I'm the one crying in the alley."

"You're not crying."

"I'm not?" Pyrrha rubbed her eyes, seemingly surprised by the dry skin. "I thought I would be."

Pyrrha sighed and Weiss took this as her cue. Walking forward she sat down next to Pyrrha making sure to give her space. Pyrrhas face was dry, no sign of tears at all but still she looked almost hollow. If Jaune had rejected her a week ago, perhaps she just didn't have any tears left.

"It's strange," Pyrrha continued. "I had built up the moment so much in my head. I never could bring myself to ask him, I always scared he would say no. I knew it was stupid. Nora and Yang would always tell me to just ask him. There's no way he would say no..."

"I can't believe he did."

"Apparently, he just doesn't see me that way. He considers me his best friend, more than Ren or Ruby... but that's all." Her voice was small and emotionless. "And that's all we'll ever be."

There was quiet, the only sounds were the faint music from the various rooms. An inappropriate soundtrack for Pyrrhas heartbreak. She didn't deserve this and Weiss felt it only fair the world shows her some mercy, yet she received none.

"I'm sorry Pyrrha."

"Don't be, it's not your fault. It's no one's fault really. Maybe mine for waiting so long. Maybe if I had... it doesn't matter." Pyrrha sniffed slightly, quickly rubbing her eyes to preserve her make up but Weiss pretended not to see. "You know, in a way it's oddly first it hurt a lot, more than it should of for what we had, but it's... manageable now."

Weiss tried not to flinch at how awful that description sounded, more like some sort of condition rather than a feeling. Not something anyone should have to live with.

"How do you do it Weiss?" Pyrrha said. "How does everyone do it? I just- everyone knows how to do it. You all know how to work to get what you want. Ruby just kissed you and she had only known you a few months. I knew Jaune for so long and I've known how I felt and I just couldn't do anything. Coco never had a conversation with Yang and she just asked her out like it was nothing. And it worked!"

Pyrrha sighed, her sudden burst of emotion sputtering out. Not sure what to else to do Weiss reached out to place her arm around her shoulder. Pyrrha didn't hesitate, leaning in and taking the hug, she so desperately needed. It caught Weiss off guard, leaving her sitting their awkwardly for a moment before hugging her back properly.

"I don't know what to say..."

"You don't have to say anything. I just need a minute..." Pyrrha smiled. "Or tequila."

"You don't want tequila," Yang's voice called from the doorway, making the two jump." At least I never did. You might be different but I found tequilas too easy. You want a drink that hurts a little."

Her voice was quieter than usual, more subdued and sombre. The type of voice Weiss only heard her speak of a few times, mostly when Ruby had first talked about leaving. Glancing back behind her, Yang closed the door over, content no one was listening.

"Nora told us what happened," she said sitting down next to them. I'm sorry Pyr."

"Thanks Yang but it's no one's fault."

The words still sounded hollow but Weiss was surprised by the slight chuckle that Yang let out after them.

"Yeah, I know but it feels like it's yours, doesn't it? Like your missing something or not acting the right way." Yang swallowed staring ahead, not really looking at either of them. "Like there's something wrong with you because it can't be them. They're perfect so it must be you. You have to be the problem."

Weiss held her breath, feeling out of place and intrusive. It was obvious what Yang was talking about. She was with Coco now but she hadn't always been and it had been clear from the moment Weiss met her, who Yang had once yearned for.

Pyrrha nodded slightly at Yang's words, a tiny movement, so small that Weiss barely noticed and made her wonder if Pyrrha had even noticed herself. Still Yang noticed and the blonde stepped a little closer to sit down next to them.

She opened her mouth to speak again before hesitating, her lilac eyes flicking towards Weiss, nervous of her presence.

"I- sorry Weiss, do you mind if I talk to Pyrrha alone for a bit. I uhh, well..."

Yang trailed off but Weiss was already standing up and brushing herself off. It would be hard enough for Yang to talk about all this to just Pyrrha, she didn't need Weiss there making it worse.

With a final smile and reassuring (or at least what she hoped was reassuring pat on the shoulder, Weiss left the two friends to it and headed back towards the rest of the group.

* * *

She found Coco alone at the bar on the way back to the karaoke room, everyone's drinks still on the tray. She nodded to Weiss to get her attention before turning back to her own drink and taking another swig.

"How is she?"

"It's hard to say," Weiss said, sliding next to her. "I think she just needs time."

"Hmm," Coco said in a noncommittal way.

For a moment, there was silence before Coco slid across Weiss's drink to her, another White Russian making Weiss roll her eyes. It wouldn't be a terrible pun if Yang didn't make it twice.

Coco must have noticed her scowl, letting out a soft chuckle that just made Weiss scowl even more.

"Seriously, how do you put up with her jokes."

"I like them," Coco said with a shrug. "They're dumb but I like them."

"Like her?"

"Hey that's my girl you're talking about." Coco paused to take a drink. "But yeah pretty much."

Weiss sighed before smiling and taking a drink herself.

"I suppose she is rather endearing, in her own particular way."

"That she is... excellent arse too."

She said it so casually that Weiss almost didn't register it at first and only when her drink was halfway down throat did it hit her. Coughing and spluttering, she earned herself a dirty look from a bartender, who Weiss sent a weak smile as means of apology.

It didn't seem to do much and the bartender clearly just thought she was drunk so Weiss just looked away, turning back to a laughing Coco.

"I hope your proud of yourself."

"I am actually, Yang said you were easy to fluster but damn, you're worse than Velvs." She paused. "Okay, maybe not that bad. I could have said bottom and gotten her to blush."

"Never thought I would see the day that Yang was the responsible one in the relationship. There she is trying to comfort Pyrrha, while you're just at the bar mocking the rich girl."

"Yang would surprise you. She's more mature than she lets on."

Weiss made a face.

"This is leading to another innuendo isn't it."

"I'm serious. She's a big sister through and through. Besides," Coco said, her tone suddenly more neutered. "Besides, I don't really know Pyrrha that well and I don't have a Yang's experience either..."

Weiss paused slightly, unsure if Coco was meaning what Weiss thought she meant. With her dark aviators (even in the dim light of the bar), it was hard to read her expression, so Weiss made sure to be careful with her response.

"Does it bother you," she asked tactfully, trying to remain neutral.

"That Yang loves Blake." Okay apparently, she knew all too well. "It's a little weird yes."

Coco sighed, taking off her glasses in a rare moment. She thumbed the frames, spinning them between her fingers. Weiss noticed that the paint was worn away a little where she was fidgeting and wondered how many times in her life that Coco had done this.

"Yang explained it to me early on," Coco said. "Not the details obviously but enough to get a picture. It doesn't bother me... mostly. I trust Yang. I think that even if Blake threw herself at Yang tomorrow, Yang wouldn't drop me. It's not a great situation but I don't think that I'm Yang's second choice. I'm just another choice."

"That's a very... mature way of looking at it," Weiss said after a few seconds. "I'm not sure I could really see it that way if Ruby had been in love with Pyrrha or Jaune."

Coco smiled, putting her glasses back on.

"What can I say, I'm a very mature person. Besides she's worth it. Like I said-"

"Yes," Weiss interrupted, quickly. "It doesn't need repeating."

The brunette laughed before taking another drink as Weiss smiled. They talked a little longer as they waited for Yang and Pyrrha to come back. The topics changed as they didn't return until they started talking about Cocos work.

It was actually kinda amazing. Weiss wouldn't have thought it but Cocos dedication surprised her. Coco wanted to work in fashion, that had always been clear and Yang had mentioned a few times that Coco had a blog that she used to post designs and photos.

But apparently Coco also worked a normal job in a clothes store and was constantly applying for jobs and internships. She had a goal and was working towards it in a way that many people couldn't.

"What about you Weiss?" Coco said. "You got any plans?"

"What do you mean?"

"After Beacon. What do you want to do with your life? You can't work in an ice cream parlour forever."

Weiss blinked. She hadn't really thought about it like that. On some level, she knew that Beacon was temporary but still it felt like she had only started recently even though it had been months.

But Ruby, Blake and Pyrrha were all at school. Ren and Nora lived together. Weiss was still living off her sister. Maybe she should be thinking about a future. Before coming to Vale, it has always been decided already. She had been heir to Schnee Dust company. That had always been her future.

Suddenly the back door opened and thoughts of the future were pushed away in favour of the present. Pyrrha walked in, Yang following behind them. She looked a little better, slightly cheerier and more like her normal self though still a little downcast. Whatever Yang had said must have struck a chord.

"How are you feeling," Weiss asked softly.

"A little better," Pyrrha said with a smile. "It helped to be able to finally talk about it all. Thank you both for listening."

"Anytime Pyr," Yang said. "And if you need to talk more, I'm here."

"Thank you." Pyrrha sighed and shook her slightly. "Now let's get back to the others."

"Are you sure? We don't have to if you are feeling up to it."

"No, I want to. I've spoiled this night enough already. I'm surprised Nora hasn't burst in to save me yet."

Weiss glanced at Yang unsure on how to proceed. Pyrrha seemed pretty adamant about continuing but was she simply slipping into old habits? Acting like she was okay just to put them at ease.

Yang however just nodded slightly so despite her worry's, Weiss agreed. Yang had talked with her for longer and new the situation. Perhaps normalcy was what she needed tonight.

"So Pyrrha," Coco said as they walked back to the room. "Going to sing us a song then?"

"Oh, um I don't think so. You heard me earlier..."

Coco grinned, wrapping her arm around Pyrrhas shoulder.

"Come on, you know that's not the point. It's about having fun. Besides theirs got to be a song you want to sing."

"Well I suppose there is one," Pyrrha said. "I would need a partner."

"No problem," Coco said and Weiss suddenly found herself pulled across to Cocos other side. "We got a professional singer here after all."

* * *

Ten minutes later after a few back breaking hugs from Nora, Pyrrha managed to get them back on track. They only had the room for a little longer and Pyrrha was adamant they not waste any more of their time or money on her.

Having been dragged into Pyrrhas song, Weiss was feeling slightly annoyed. She suspected that Coco had given her this song because it was outside of her vocal range and she would likely do it badly.

Well badly for her standards. Still far better than everyone else obviously.

"Are you ready Weiss," Pyrrha asked, nervously gripping her own mic.

"Obviously," she replied with a smirk. "Don't forget who you're talking to?"

The music started and Weiss sighed watching as everyone else started moving to the beat. Watching the lyrics move across the screen, she counted down in her head to keep them and began to sing.

"I got chiiiillllllls, they're multiplying." She sang, trying to keep focus as the others laughed. "And I'm losing control. And the power you're supplying... it's electrifying!"

She snorted slightly giggling as she face palmed her own singing. Still if it made Pyrrha feel a little better and took her mind off her problems, then really it was a small price to pay. Hell, Weiss was pretty sure she had sold away her dignity with her contract to Beacon. She just hadn't known it at the time.

Though, if meant she had friends like these and could help them when they needed it, if only a little, Weiss was okay with that.


	34. Chapter 34

Weiss groaned as she tried to clean out the pocket of her apron. Today had not been going well. There had been a power cut in the night, so her scroll hadn't charged and died in the morning meaning her alarm didn't go off. That wouldn't be so bad since she started work at eleven, but since she been up late skyping Ruby, she'd slept later than usual.

A very short shower and no breakfast later, Weiss had walked into work ten minutes late with a face that dared anyone to point that out. She hated being late. This was mostly because she hated when others were late. If she was late, it made people think it was okay. It wasn't okay. People shouldn't be late.

So, after arriving late and wearing a face that dared anyone to comment on that fact, she had ended up doing stock check in the freezer. Apparently, no one had done it yet, so Weiss had felt obligated to do so. Forty minutes of below zero temperatures, Weiss had emerged.

This is why she hated being late.

The main shift itself had been terrible too. They hadn't been busy making it incredibly dull. The only thing they had to look forward to was their plans to go to the beach after work but if anything, that anticipation just made the day go slower.

Blake had left at three to go help Sun bring some food and drinks over to the beach. Yang had figured that she and Weiss would be able to handle it with how not busy it was.

And then a kid's party had walked in and chaos had ensued. Between the two of them, they had barely managed to get through it. Yang had stuck Weiss on waiting and clearing while she stayed behind the counter making everything. Apparently, Weiss would slow her down.

So, Weiss had been left with trying to entertain a dozen... children as well as still clearing tables and bringing out orders. The parents had tipped well at least after Yang had given the birthday girl free reign of the toppings.

Then when they had all left and they closed the shop, Weiss discovered one of the children had dumped ice cream into her apron pocket.

"Look at it this way, in a hundred years, who's gonna care?"

Weiss smiled.

"You're not helping Yang."

"Wasn't trying to. Was trying to hurry you up."

Yang's scroll buzzed in her hand and the blonde gave a goofy smile. Weiss shook her head. She'd never been that bad herself... had she?

"Coco on her way?"

"Yeah."

"Don't say it like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're butter left out in the sun."

Yang scoffed incredulously, but the tinge of pink on her cheeks betrayed her.

"I'm not like that... okay fine I'm a little like that but I'm not going to let you put me down for that. I'm happy Weiss so suck it." Her scroll buzzed again and Yangs eyes shot down to it. "So how much longer are you going to be?"

Weiss shook her head. Amazing how impatient people could be.

"You can just go if you want."

"Really?"

"Well it's not like you are helping anyway. Just go I'll clean up and meet you guys at the beach."

Letting out a small squeak of excitement, Yang jumped up and almost ran from the room immediately. She managed to catch herself, quickly grabbing Weiss in a hug before running out of the room.

"Thanks Weiss, you're the best."

Weiss sighed as her co-worker ran from changing room leaving Weiss alone.

"You could have protested a little more," she said to the empty air. "Or at least pretended to."

Still, Weiss wasn't too bothered to be alone. She would catch up with the others at the beach anyway. Besides she had something she needed to do, and she preferred no one was around to see it.

Waiting a few minutes to make sure Yang was gone, Weiss slid over to her bag. Taking one last look around, Weiss slid her hand into the front pocket of her bag and pulled out a polaroid.

Velvet had taken it and somehow Ruby had gotten wind of it. She wanted it put up in Beacon which meant that Weiss had to put it up in Beacon. In the front window... where anyone could see it!

To be fair, it was a good picture. Velvet had taken it at the Vytal festival just after they had completed the obstacle course. They were sweaty, mucky and tired as all hell but still, the four of them were crushed together with biggest grins on their faces.

It made Weiss smile again as she traced her finger over Ruby. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to put it up. And, if it was going to be seen, it might as well be by everyone. The front window really was the best place for it.

Making up her mind, Weiss stood and went to find some blu tac. She had better be quick though. The others were probably waiting for her.

* * *

It had been Nora's idea. Ever since the nearly disastrous karaoke night, the group dynamics had been a little awkward. The red head was determined to not let her two friend's friendship be ruined so they were having another beach party to break the ice.

It was a good idea. Between the seven Beacon workers, Coco, her friends and Sun, Pyrrha and Jaune would be able to be around each other but still have plenty of space if they needed it. What could go wrong?

Weiss grimaced at the thought.

So much could go wrong. She knew Pyrrha was still raw and from the sounds of it, Jaune was feeling guilty about the entire situation. For once, Weiss was inclined to not blame Jaune but still this had the potential to go badly, especially since alcohol was involved.

It made Weiss wish Ruby was there. Not that she'd be any help. This was a complex social situation after all. Ruby would be as useful as a Schnee fire door, but she was at least very good at making people feel better. If she were here, she would be filling Weiss with positive reinforcement about how well this was going to go.

Now Weiss had to be the positive one. She was terrible at that. Still it couldn't be helped. Hopefully Jaune and Pyrrha could go back to being friends soon and everything would go back to-

Weiss paused slightly at the top of the wooden stairs that led down to the beach. She could have sworn she heard something. Looking around she couldn't see anyone she recognised. There were some people milling around at the end of the pier but too far away for them to have been what she heard.

"Yang please say something."

It was Cocos voice. She recognised it now and it sounded like it was coming from underneath the stairs. That was strange enough but the worried tone that she could hear in Cocos voice made her nervous.

"What's there to say," came Yang's reply.

It made Weiss's blood go cold. It sounded so wrong. Yang's usual go-lucky, meet life head on, vibrant voice had been replaced by something hollow. The young heiress had never heard her sound like this before.

It was all wrong. Weiss shouldn't be hearing this. She shouldn't be accidently eavesdropping on this conversation. This was personal to her friends but how could she leave now? What would happen to Yang when Coco was gone?

"We have options."

There was an emotionless chuckle.

"Coco this isn't a choice. You've wanted this opportunity all your life. You've worked on it for years. We've been dating a few months... We're barely serious." There was a small pause. "Besides, you've already made up your mind."

"Don't think I don't care about this Yang," Coco said with a spark of anger. "We can try long distance. We can make this work."

"You're moving to Vacou. No, we can't."

"We can try long distance."

"It won't work."

The worst part was how resigned Yang sounded to it. Like she had been half expecting this to happen to her. That this was a dream she had been waiting to wake up from.

"Yang I lo-"

"Coco it's okay." Yang cut her off. "I want you to go. It's what you want. You deserve this. I'll be fine. You know me."

Weiss could almost imagine the empty smile that Yang was forcing even as her eyes stared blankly ahead. Then she heard Coco let out a heavy shaky breath. Looking down through the gaps between the wood, Weiss could see Coco hugging Yang, whispering something in her ear that was too quiet for Weiss to hear.

Yang's arms, remained limply at her side.

And then Coco pulled away turned away from Yang, even as the blonde slid down to sit down on the sand. Only then did Weiss realise Coco was coming her way, but it was too late, and Cocos slightly red eyes met Weiss's own in surprise.

"I-" Weiss began but found herself with nowhere to go. Coco just nodded and took out her glasses from a pocket.

"Look after her," she said. "Please make sure she's okay."

Weiss nodded hesitantly, and Coco managed to muster a small grateful smile. And then she put on the glasses and walked quickly away from the beach, her heeled boots deafening in the sickly silence that remained.

Knowing what she had to do but not sure if she was able, Weiss forced herself down the wooden steps of the pier each one creaking loudly. Swallowing she walked over to where Yang was sat, back against the wall gazing out towards the sea.

"Hey Weiss," she said.

"Hi Yang."

"Guess you heard that huh?"

Weiss swallowed hating the way she sounded.

"Some of it."

"Probably enough."

Yang let out a hollow chuckle and Weiss but her lip nervously, hating the way Yang sounded and knowing the only words she had were horribly insufficient.

"Yang I'm so-"

"Don't." Yang cut her off. There was an edge to her words. "Don't say you're sorry. Every time it's the same. Everyone is always so fucking sorry every time I get dumped. I don't want your pity, I just want..."

Anger failed her, and she slumped forward, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them as she quietly sobbed into them. Quickly, Weiss pulled out her scroll and typed out a frantic message to the first name she saw, Blake.

 _Under pier. Come now please_

Hesitantly she put her scroll away, not sure what to next. Just like Pyrrha, she found herself helpless while one of her friends was hurting. She wanted to help but didn't know how. She needed Blake to get here quickly.

Kneeling down in front of her, Weiss slowly put her arms around Yang. It was a pathetic gestured but before Weiss knew it, Yang had buried her head in her chest as she pulled her close. For a moment Weiss flinched but managed to hug her back properly regardless.

"I really liked her Weiss," Yang said.

"I know, and she loved you too. Sometimes these things just happen."

"Yeah but why does it always happen to me? Why doesn't anyone want to stay with me?"

"Yang I-"

"Yang!"

Blakes voice rang out in worry and Weiss turned to see the cat faunus running towards them. Dressed in a bikini and shorts, she must have already been at the beach with the others. She still had a drink in hand, a plastic cup that no doubt was far stronger than it looked.

The weight lifted from Weiss's chest and Yang turned away, wiping the tears away as she quickly tried to put on a brave face that was fooling no one.

"Hey Blake," she said through a forced smile. "Is that a new top?"

"Yang what's wrong?"

"Nothing it looks great on you."

"Don't do that."

Blake turned to Weiss, expectant for an answer. Weiss wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't her place to tell but she knew Blake could handle this far better than she could hope to. And then Yang sighed, and she was spared the decision.

"Coco du-" Yang swallowed. "Coco and I broke up."

"Oh... Yang I'm so sorry."

Yang's fist clenched, so slight that only Weiss could see it. She didn't want the pity, least of all from Blake. Why did she message Blake? Weiss was an idiot. This was only going to make it worse.

The blonde sniffed and stood up, forcing another smile.

"Yeah well. It's probably for best. I was really punching anyway. Come one, let's go see the others."

"You don't have to do that," Blake said as Weiss quickly stood up after her. "No one will blame you if you want to go home. We can talk about it if you want. Maybe I can help."

Oh Blake.

Yang just laughed, walking away from the pier and taking Blakes drink from her loose grip. She downed it in one and threw it to the side."

"Nah you won't catch me moping around. I'll just bounce back stronger. I can take it. Jeez, what was in that? Sun really needs to make stronger drinks. It's pathetic."

Weiss and Blake exchanged a worried look before quickly following after their friend.

* * *

It was even worse than Weiss thought it would be. The moment she found the others, Yang came straight out with it, blurting out the explanation like it was nothing. She shrugged off their concern and their offers, instead just insisting they forget about it and get on with the day.

It was how practised she was that worried Weiss the most. Yang just seemed normal, like nothing has happened. It seemed to fool everyone or maybe they just wanted to be fooled. But they hadn't seen her crying or heard how broken she had sounded. They only saw what she wanted them to, carefree Yang ready to bounce back and hit life harder for trying to keep her down.

How often did she do this, that she could turn it on so easily? It reminded Weiss of the old Schnee company galas she had once attended so long ago. The nights she was expected to represent the family and keep up the charade of a happy and loving home life. How had Weiss not seen it sooner? She had always though that Pyrrha was the martyr, but Yang made an art of it.

But today that facade was breaking, cracking and straining every time Yang poured another drink. Sun has brought a bottle with him from the bar and Yang seemed like she had done half of it herself. Sometimes mixed or other times as shots she pressured someone to do with her.

"Come on it'll be fun. You're not going to make me drink, alone are you?"

No one really wanted to do it, but they didn't want her to be taking both, so they agreed. Only Blake seemed to have any control, hiding the alcohol and packing it away. Trying to get her to drink water or to let Blake take her home but still Yang was having none of it. Weiss just felt so helpless.

"Nora," Pyrrha asked during a moment of quiet. "Do you think you could do my sun cream for me again?"

Instantly, Yang perked up.

"I'll do you." Yang laughed at her own joke, swaying slightly as she stood. "I'm great at that. I got huge... hands." She laughed again and nearly fell over.

"Oh, that's very kind of you Yang, but-"

But Yang had stopped listening, jumping over to where Pyrrha was lying and snatching the lotion from her hands.

"Perfect!"

She hummed to herself as she squirted the lotion onto her hands, half of it missing and falling onto the sand. Everyone pretended not to watch her in silence as she started to lather it into her back. It was streaky and seemed to be missing a lot of areas.

"See I... I can do things," Yang slurred. "You all think that I can't but I'm just peachy."

"No one thinks that about you," Ren said gently.

"Yeah you're like the strongest person we know."

"We just think that maybe you might be best to take some time."

"I've had time," Yang said. "Was overrated. Now I just want to do things. Anyone want to be my thing?"

She finished applying the Sun lotion, plopping down on the sand and letting Pyrrha sit up properly. She didn't seem to notice she sat in the spilled sun lotion.

"Yang, you need to stop," Blake said. "Let me take you home."

"I don't want to go home... oh we should go clubbing."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Pyrrha said.

"Why not. Come on Pyr, we're both single. It'll be fun." Her voice took on a more sultry tone as she leaned closer to the red head. "Or we can cut out the middle man… literally."

Pyrrha let out a squeak of surprise leaning backwards before Yang's did something she would regret. The spell was broken, and Yang's eyes widened in shock at what she had almost done.

"I didn't mean- I wouldn't- Pyrrha I'm so sorry."

Her eyes started to glisten, threatening to overflow.

"What's wrong with me?"

"They're nothing wrong with you Yang," Pyrrha began but was cut off.

"Well clearly there is. I ruin everything. I'm just-"

She couldn't finish, breaking down and sobbing into her hands again. Weiss found herself frozen once again, not sure what to do or how to help. Everyone else was quiet, unable to comprehend strong, cheery loving Yang reduced to this. It hurt them all to see her like this.

Blake stepped forward, kneeling down next to her friend.

"Yang, you're not any of that. I know what it's like to feel worthless, but you need to know you're not. You're my best friend, we all care about you but please Yang." Blake was almost pleading. "Let me take you home."

There's was a moment of pause that lasted an eternity and then slowly she nodded.

* * *

"I'm really sorry guys," Yang mumbled for the fifth time. "I'm really really sorry."

"It's okay Yang. You haven't done anything wrong."

"I haven't done anything right.," she mumbled. "I just... thanks for walking me home."

Walking hadn't really been the plan. Weiss and Blake had left the others to clear up while they caught a taxi with Yang but with the state Yang was in, no taxi was coming near them. Weiss found it hard to blame them. The drinks were still hitting Yang and now she needed the two of them to keep her supported, most of her speech reduced to slurs and repetition, if it was understandable at all.

"Of course," Weiss said. "What sort of friends would we be if we left you?"

"About what I deserve. Hey, remember that time I made you get a tattoo because I don't know fucking boundaries? Then when it was your turn for payback, you gave me this, a normal haircut and I was still mad. If it had been me, I would have waxed you head to toe because I'm a spiteful bitch."

"Now stop this Yang," Weiss said firmly. "You are not a bad person, you understand me? You gave me a job and made me feel welcome here and-" she sighed. "And you're going to be sick aren't you."

Yang broke free from them grip and ran to the side of the pier. The sound of retching followed as Yang released the contents of her stomach into the sea. Beside her, Weiss heard Blake sigh in concern.

"At least she's getting it out her system," Weiss offered. "I think I still have some water here."

Weiss searched her bag quickly finding the bottle and passing it over to Yang, who mostly only took a few sips and spat out the rest into the sea. She groaned, hanging over the support staring at the waves. Not sure what else to do, Weiss simply rubbed her back.

And then Blake stepped forward.

"Yang, do you remember Nora's birthday?" She said softly. "I had just had a fight with Sun. He'd wanted to know about me and I wasn't for talking, as usual. He was patient, but it had been months... I got angry, pushed him away, shouted him out my apartment and drank Nora's gift. By the time I got to Nora's party I was already drunk, and I just got worse. I was so drunk I knocked over the cake you and Ruby and spent all day making."

Blake chuckled at the memory as the other two just listened quietly.

"There I was, drunk off my ass, covered in icing and crying in the middle of Nora's kitchen. I just wanted to leave. Like everyone would be better off without me around. But you just picked me and took me home. You helped me get washed and changed out of my ruined dress." She smiled. "I remember you always looked away when I was changing. Such a gentleman."

"And then you just listened to me. I talked for hours, still crying through most of it and you were so patient with me. You were the first person I told about my life before... Then you slept on my couch and in the morning, you convinced me that I should talk to Sun. He makes me happy, you said. You need to hold onto that."

Weiss continued to say nothing not wanting to upset the balance that had momentarily calmed Yang down. Blake let out a shaky sigh before speaking again.

"So no Yang, you're not a bad person. I bet every one of our friends has a story like that. About how you helped them or made them feel better. It's what you do Yang, you always support people. You're one of the best people I know, bad things have just happened to you and I know it makes you feel alone, but you're not. We're all here for you became you deserve to be happy Yang."

Yang didn't say anything for a while, just continuing to stare out at the sea before finally speaking.

"I love you."

For a moment, Weiss heart stopped beating as her brain processed what Yang had just let slip. And then Blake smiled.

"I love you too Yang," she said to her friend. "We all do."

"No Blake, I love you. I've always loved you and I still do. That night just shows bad I really am because right now I hate myself for not telling you then I thought you were strongest smartest and most gorgeous girl I have ever met. I love you Blake."

The smile on Blakes flittered away to confusion at Yang's long hidden confession.

"I don't-"

And the Yang reached up and kissed her. She kissed her with all the passion of her repressed longing. She kissed her like she kissed like she had kissed Coco, a kiss of pure devotion in its entirety.

And Blake didn't kiss her back. She just stood there, frozen. Too shocked to move and so many things clicked into place for her. Comments and looks that she hadn't understood. The little things she used to roll her eyes at when Jaune and Weiss hadn't been able to work out that they were longed for.

Yang pulled away, eyes still slightly closed and her hand trailing across Blakes cheek to extend the contact as long as she could. To make this moment last forever and never have to deal with consequences of it.

The contact broke, and the moment ended. Yang's eyes widened with the enormity of what she had done as Blake stared back at her.

And then Yang ran.

"Yang," Weiss shouted suddenly able to move. "Yang come back. You can't- it's not safe!"

She ran a few steps hating herself for not acting sooner and for letting this get so far. The relationship she had let destroy itself over her inaction. And then she remembered Blake, also alone and having to deal with so much. She turned around back to where they had been standing.

And Blake was already gone.


	35. Chapter 35

_Hey_  
 _I know it's been a while_  
 _I-_  
 _I'm not sorry_  
 _I only told you the truth and you deserved that._  
 _I know you don't have any reason to see me but-  
I just think I need this_

* * *

Yang opened her eyes and found herself alone.

For a few seconds she didn't recognise where she was. She didn't panic though, it didn't really matter anyway. Then she remembered where she was and rolled over into the pillow. A stale smell of alcohol wafted through the pillow which wasn't actually all that unusual for this place. This one probably was her fault though, if her lack of memory was any real indication.

After a few minutes though, the smell was making her stomach turn and Yang was forced to get up. She looked over to where her scroll hung by its charger where she had thrown it the night before. Picking it up the screen flashed with notifications.

 _36 new messages_

 _5 missed calls_

Face blank, she cleared the notifications without reading them, pausing over one name.

 _Blakey - Please talk to me_

 _3 missed calls_

Yang cleared the notification and looked away, her expression blank.

Her clothes were still scattered around the room where she had dumped them the night before. She didn't keep pyjamas here so had slept mostly naked with only her underwear. Not really wanting to wear her previous night's clothes, she grabbed a tank top from last time and pulled it on.

As she reached the door she paused, catching sight of a pale blue bra half hanging out of a laundry basket. It wasn't hers and probably wasn't his. She smirked slightly. The old man still had some game after all.

Opening the door, she walked into the main lounge, covering her eyes at the bright light coming through the main balcony window. It was a beautiful day and it was making her head hurt even more. Groaning, she looked away and made her way over to the kitchen bunker as fast as her currently fragile body would allow.

Two painkillers and a glass of water were already laid out for her and the flats owner was currently making breakfast. He greeted her with a grunt that she returned. Branwens were civilised like that after all.

"Hey there Firecracker," her uncle said. "How'd you feel?"

"Like you do most days I imagine," she said, gratefully taking the water and pills. "I don't even remember going to your bed."

"You didn't. You passed out on the couch. I carried you."

A pang of guilt flittered through her over denying her uncle a bed on his day off.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Oh, in that case I won't bother next time," he said rolling his eyes. "I rarely do things because I have to Yang. Most people don't if they can't avoid it."

Yang paused mid swig before carefully putting the glass down, so it didn't make too much noise.

"Careful old man. That almost sounds like you're trying to make a point."

"Well we wouldn't want that would we. God forbid we try to learn anything."

"What's the point? I'm a Branwen aren't I? There's not cure for that."

Qrow grunted not really having a response as he turned back to the frying pan.

"Don't think this was really the context I used that in," he muttered. "Anyway, you think you can handle any food right now?"

The smell of bacon had been making her want to throw up since she sat down.

"I'll pass. Just going to shower and head home."

"Are you working today?"

She shook her head. That would mean talking to everyone else.

"I'm having Pyrrha handle shifts. Taking some time off."

"Trying to sort things out?"

"Yeah."

"Probably smart..."

They trailed off into silence, Qrow having nothing else to say that wouldn't push her away. Yang hated what she was doing. It made her feel dirty and even worse than did but right now she needed the space.

Crashing at Qrow's was nothing new. She did it all the time. It used to be because it was closer and then it became easier for avoiding lectures about how much she had drunk. Then somewhere along the way it become where she came when the night got too much for her and she didn't want anyone to know.

Head to Qrow's and in the morning, make up a story about some girl she went home with, so no one found out. It was what she had done at Rubys birthday after striking out one too many times. It was pathetic but... no she didn't really have a but.

Since everything had gone to shit, Yang had come here even more. Her dad knew and wasn't happy about it but was scared of where she'd go if she didn't feel like she could come here. Qrow kept trying to talk to her but never pushed it. For now, Yang could live the lie that she hadn't royally fucked her life up.

Yang stood up, finishing off the rest of her water and started to walk towards the bathroom. Qrow looked up as she did, letting out a groan of annoyance.

"Jesus kid would it kill you to get dressed."

"Nothing you haven't seen," Yang quipped back. "I saw the lacy blue number in your number. What's her name or do you have something you want to tell me?"

"Hilarious, not your business and not the point."

"Fine whatever, I'll wear jeans next time okay"

She closed the door leaving Qrow alone in his kitchen. He sighed turning back to plate up his food and leaving the rest encase Yang changed her mind. He doubted it though. There were three things Branwens excelled at, self-destruction, avoiding problems and stubbornness.

Qrow wasn't sure how he had gotten his own life together let alone how to help Yang. He wanted to, he hated seeing her like this. But if she wasn't listening to Tai or Ruby, there was no way she would listen to him.

* * *

Drink in hand, Yang walked through the forest of people that made up the nightclub, waiting for someone. No one in particular, just someone who caught her eye, seemed interesting or just plain interested.

It didn't take long. All sorts came to Juniors. They didn't just take crap like her. She found a pretty but hard looking girl, sitting alone and looking pissed off at anyone that came by. Not Yang's usual type, with short boyish hair and ripped sleeves but perhaps different was what she needed. Yang didn't think twice, finishing her drink and sitting herself down next to her.

"Hey," she said. "Nice ink."

The girl's eyes flickered to her arm, a dark black bird flew across it. She grunted unimpressed by Yang's opening line and ignored her. Undeterred, Yang tried again.

"Don't think I've seen you around here before. What's your name?"

"Spring."

"Really?"

"Nope."

"You don't seem like a Spring."

"And you don't seem like my type."

"Your types not hot people," Yang said with a smirk. "Weird type."

Spring laughed at that, almost despite herself. It was short and clipped, but Yang took it regardless. Progress was progress and Spring was at least still taking to her.

"Fine I'll humour you. What do you want?"

"To talk."

"Doubt that."

"Maybe not just talk." Yang smiled. "But I'll settle for a name? How bout a trade? I'm Yang."

The girl sighed in annoyance, almost turning away before deciding against it. There was a few seconds of silence (or as close as you could get in a club) before she answered.

"Vernal," she said. "And I'm not getting rid of you, am I?"

"Not easily."

The girl smiled.

"Guess I'll just have to give you what you want then."

Vernal moved slowly, closing the gap between them. Surprised by the boldness, Yang was caught off guard but tried to cover her shock. Her arm slid around Vernals back even as Yang felt her hand run through her hair. She closed her eyes as she waited for the kiss to come.

It never did, and Yang blinked finding Vernal sitting back with a cruel smirk on her face.

"Like I said, not my type. Too desperate," she shook her head. "It's pathetic."

And then without another word, she shoved past Yang and walked away, vanishing into the crowd. Alone and humiliated, Yang just sat there feeling like she couldn't get any worse.

"Ouch, that look like it hurt," came a familiar drawl.

"Poor baby," said its twin. "Though you did say someone should teach her a lesson."

The two girls dropped into the seats either side of her, smiling like vultures. Yang swallowed hating she wasn't even allowed to be rejected without the kicking her further.

"Leave me alone," she muttered. "I'm not in the mood."

Both twins grinned at her, at her expense more than likely. Each one had a drink in their hand that they hadn't touched, too focused on her and causing her grief. Yang wanted to go home but home meant facing dad and that just made her feel guilty again.

"Oh really? We'll keep this quick then," Melanie said. "Get out."

"What?"

"You heard her," Militia said. "You're making our patrons feel uncomfortable and you assaulted us last time you were here."

"That's bullshit, and you know it. You've both thrown drinks at me before."

"Yeah but you don't own the place, so..." Melanie let the words hang for a moment. "Get the fuck out, okay?"

"Fuck you."

The Malachite twins laughed before standing up.

"Two minutes or we get security," Militia said. "Are we clear?"

Seething but unable to do anything, Yang just nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She was barely holding back her rage as it was. Unfortunately, it seemed like the twins were wanting to push their luck.

"Oh, we almost forgot. For old times' sake."

"One more for the road."

Each girl lifted their glasses and emptied it over Yang's head, slowly pouring the liquid over her golden locks. They smirked at her as she just sat there, hair matted to her face before they turned to leave.

It was taking everything Yang had not to go after them. She was shaking, seething with fury. They didn't have a right to treat her like this, not with everything she'd gone through.

The anger bubbled over, and Yang was on her feet before she knew what was happening. Fists clenched she walked after the two twins, the only question in her mind was which one she was going to hit first.

A hand caught her shoulder and she spun round, ready to fight the bouncer who was no doubt about to throw her out. And then she blinked.

"Sun?"

* * *

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Yang didn't answer, instead choosing to kick the wall of Juniors from the alley outside. Sun had gotten her out pretty easily. Him turning up had surprised her and then the twins they were gone. Not wanting arrested without at least getting the satisfaction, she hadn't resisted him.

"What are you doing here?" She muttered. "How did you even find me?"

"Where else would you go?" He had a point. "Now what the hell are you doing?"

"You going to lecture me too? It's my life Sun."

"Yeah and your life happens to be part of ours. We're worried about you."

"Don't be."

"Blakes worried about you."

Yang didn't say anything to that. She looked away from Sun, staring at the ground and kicking a piece of stone to distract her. Alcohol still burned in her system, blurring her vision. She wished it would blur more.

"How is she?" Yang said finally, so quiet she barely heard it herself.

"Scared of losing you and pissed off."

"I'm sorry. I didn't want that. I just wanted... I don't know what I want."

That's a lie. You know it and Sun knows it too. It was written all his face. The fact he was here anyway. Had Blake asked him to come? Yang didn't know if she wanted that. Blake was better off without her. They were all better off without her.

Was this how Raven had felt? All those years ago. Had she felt alone in the crowd, apart from the group, trapped with no future while everyone else had plans. She'd gotten on a train and never looked back.

The train station would still be open. She could find her train.

"She's not angry at you."

Suns voice brought her back to the alley and she looked up at him quickly.

"But-"

"Well, she's a little angry at you," Sun said. "And she's kinda angry at all of us for not telling her. Really mad at me..."

"You knew?"

"Yang everyone knew. Pretty sure Weiss worked it on her first day."

Yang went red, embarrassed despite everything.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Sun laughed slightly.

"Right, that's an easy conversation. Hey Yang want to grab a beer and talk about the fact we love the same girl?"

"Right..."

They didn't say anything for a while. Yang had nothing to say and she couldn't imagine Sun had anything either.

"Look Yang I get you don't like me. If I were you, I'd hate me too but-"

"I don't hate you Sun."

"I knew how you felt about Blake, but I stayed anyway."

"That wasn't the problem."

"Then what was?"

"She fell in love with you." Sun didn't respond to that, so Yang continued. "You made her happy. You can make her laugh. You can even piss her off. Mum always said that dad was the only person who could annoy her."

"You need to talk to her Yang."

Yang shook her head immediately.

"I can't."

"Yang-"

"Sun, you don't understand. I just can't. If I talk- what if she?" She swallowed. "I just can't."

Panic swirled around her again and she pushed off the wall, possibly to run or - she stumbled immediately and was only saved from a smashed face by Sun catching her. Right... all the drinks. She pushed herself off Sun and managed to remain standing, her head still spinning.

"Jesus," she heard Sun mutter. " Yang let me take you home."

"No."

"Yang come on, look at you. You can expect me to leave you out here alone."

"I'm not going home." She paused. Sun wasn't going to give up. "Look just- I'll go to my uncles, okay?"

"Great, I'll drive you."

"Sun-"

"You can quit arguing. The clubs about to close anyway."

Annoyed but with no other option, Yang let Sun lead her away from the club, using his arms to support her. A few times she half stumbled but they made it quickly and without incident to where he was parked.

It was Blakes car.

"Does she know you have this?"

"Nope."

"She going to kill you."

"Probably." He opened the door and let Yang slide in. "But I might get lucky. Good cause and all that. Where is this place then?"

She told him an address and then quickly pulled out her scroll. It didn't have much battery left and it was already late...

Yang typed the message quickly, while Sun was starting the car. She wasn't sure if he noticed or not but soon, they were on their way. Yang opened the window a crack, letting the wind blow over her, trying to sober up a little before she arrived. She wasn't sure if it was working.

It didn't take long to arrive, and Yang got out the moment, Sun stopped.

"Thanks for the ride," she muttered. "I got it from here."

"You sure?"

She laughed.

"I think I can handle a flight of stairs." She waved him off. "I'm not going to run or anything, Sun. Geez."

Making her way over to the door, she was aware of Sun watching her. The car still hadn't even been put into gear. Not really caring she reached the door and hit the buzzer. Moment of truth. For what felt like an age she waited until she finally heard the speaker turn on

"Hey." She swallowed. "It's me."

 ** _BZZZZ_**

The door opened, and Yang stepped inside. The door closed, and Yang waited until she heard that Sun had definitely gone before turning away. She took the stairs, even though the lift was there. It gave her time to think, to decide it was a bad idea at every floor that she shouldn't be doing. She knew how this ended. She should just turn around and leave.

Yet here she was already at the door. Her hand paused on the door, one last moment of resistance, before she knocked. It opened quickly, revealing a small woman with pink and black hair. Neo smiled, not saying a word as she looked her up and down before gesturing her inside.

Yang followed her wondering if she should ask for a shower. Her hair was still damp from the twin's farewell gift and hours in a club always left her in need of a wash. Her host didn't give her the option though walking her way through the apartment expecting to be followed.

Yang watched her as she did. She hadn't changed much. Still the same confident swagger even when dressed in pyjamas... if you could call them that. Maybe she was trying to show off.

Neo led her into her room, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and leaving Yang standing in the middle. The place hadn't changed much. Still the same decorations that made it seem like Neo was the perfect girl. Rich expensive things other people had bought her and most of it too pink.

Yang swallowed as Neo watched her, a small expectant smirk on her face. Slowly, Yang gripped the hem of her shirt and pulled it up and over her head. She unbuttoned her jeans, bending over to take them and her underwear off. It wasn't a seductive act, not between the two of them. It was a power play, one that Neo was winning.

But still she didn't react, just continuing to inspect at her and, of course, never saying a word. Just waiting expectantly. Yang closed her eyes for a moment, before reaching around her back and undoing the straps and letting it fall to the carpet with a noiseless collision.

She stood there in the cold, naked and bare to Neo waiting for her to make a move. When they had last broken up, Yang had embarrassed Neo simply through the rejection. She had denied Neo something she wanted, and this was the revenge for that. If Yang wanted this, she would have to earn it and even now a part of Yang expected Neo to kick her out. Another part knew that would be for the best.

And then Neo smiled and gestured Yang forward. She obeyed, stepping forward and taking Neo in a kiss and from there the night was a blur.

* * *

Neo fell asleep quickly after they were done, lying next to Yang and holding her tightly like some giant teddy bear. Yang moved closer wrapping her arms round the smaller girl and pretended.

The marks of the sex were still fresh on her bodies. Scratches, bites and sore spots that were sure to bruise by the morning. Yang didn't mind the sting and hoped she had given as good as she got. Everything was a competition between the two of them, including love making. It was why she had left the first time... and the third time.

Yang knew why she always came back to Neo even when no one else could understand. Blake had hated her, hated what she did to Yang. Yang hated it too but what choice did she have?

It was better than being alone.


	36. Chapter 36

Yang awoke to Neo playing with her hair. The smaller girl picked up her locks and moved them over Yang's face before letting them drop. The blonde blinked, pushing her away slightly and sitting up. She felt like shit, for many many reasons.

"Quit it," she muttered, running her eyes. "God, I want to throw up."

It was mostly because of the hangover but Neo didn't seem sympathetic, shooting Yang a look of disdain and concern for her sheets. Yang pulled the sheets up, covering her modesty despite how pointless it was at this stage.

"I can handle it, don't worry. Would like to shower though."

Neo raised her eyes brows with a hungry smile.

"Alone."

Her face deflated and Neo pouted dramatically. Then she let the sheet she was holding drop and Yang realised too late she was staring. Giggling silently and her point proven, Neo covered herself again before leaning over and picking up her scroll. Then she frowned suddenly and only when she turned the screen to Yang with an inquisitive but annoyed look did Yang realise it was her scroll and not Neos that she was holding.

And it was a picture of Coco.

Her eyes widened for a moment as she stared at her ex-girlfriend and then anger took over and she reached out to snatch back her phone.

"Give that back."

Neo leaned backwards, pulling the scroll away and keeping it out of reach. Despite her smaller arms she was just able to stay out of range. Her smiled twitched in triumphant but there was an edge to it with the discovery of Coco.

"She's not around anymore, okay?" Yang snapped. "She doesn't matter."

The lie seemed to satisfy Neo, who relented tossing back the scroll which Yang caught. She slid out of the bed, keeping her front facing away from Yang as walked over to her wardrobe. Yang looked away knowing that Neo wanted her to stare. She wouldn't give her the satisfaction again that easily.

In any case, Neo seemed to be in a good mood, taking a pink silk dressing gown from the wardrobe and covering herself. She then leaned downs pulling some more clothes out of the bottom and tossing them at Yang. They landed on the bed and Yang blinked in surprise as she recognised them.

"You kept these," she said, staring at an old outfit of hers. "That's not creepy at all."

Neo ignores the jab, instead raising her hands over her chest and making a heart with her fingers. Then she walked over the door to her ensuite, vanishing inside. A few seconds later, Yang heard the sound of the shower.

Sighing she stared down at the scroll in her hand and the picture of Coco still displayed. It was from one of their boat trips together, Coco had always loved taking her out and how often do you get the chance to do anything like that.

Yang had taken the picture when Coco had been focused on driving, but she had noticed by the third. Yang had dated people before who would have hated that, acting embarrassed or annoyed that they weren't ready. Coco wasn't like that. She had just smiled and struck a pose without missing a beat. She was effortlessly confident, that's why Yang liked her.

There was the sound of tapping on wood and Yang looked up to see Neo standing at the bathroom door again. She was giving her a sultry smile and raised her hand, gesturing for Yang to come join her.

Swallowing, Yang put her scroll away, making a mental note to change the password, lest Neo jealous again. Then she got out of bed and followed Neo to the shower.

* * *

Yang didn't know what Neo's dad did and getting an answer from Neo herself was never going to happen. Part of that was probably legal reasons. All she knew was that he was very rich and doted on her constantly. It was not surprise she was such a brat. What Neo wanted, she got, and woe betide anyone who ever told her no.

As such, it was no surprise to Yang that Neo still didn't work. Having a job would get in the way of Neo enjoying herself and so, it was unacceptable but her aversion to normal life was useful. It meant Yang didn't have to go anywhere during the day by herself.

Neo was happy she was around though, and that meant Yang was to be showed off. Who exactly to, Yang didn't really know either. Again, Neo didn't have friends and didn't really seem to want them. Yang supposed she was just being shown off to the world at large. How flattering.

Still it meant a free breakfast, so Yang didn't really care. She hadn't eaten yesterday, and the nights of clubbing had caught up to her. She was tired, a rest might be nice.

So, they walked down the pier, mercifully on the other side of the docks from Beacon to some breakfast diner. Neo walked happily, Yang on arm and her parasol resting lazily on her shoulder, shading her and only her. Somehow the height difference only ever inconvenienced Yang.

The Sun glared down on them and all in all, Yang was grateful to get into air conditioning. It wasn't a particularly busy diner, it being a week day and close to noon and soon a young waitress walked over to take their order.

"The usual then," she said to Neo, receiving a nod in reply. "And for yourself darling?"

Yang scanned the menu briefly before deciding.

"Just some porridge please," she said before adding. "And some hot chocolate."

"Whipped cream?"

"Is there any other way?"

The waitress smiled before leaving them to make their order. They sat in silence until their drinks arrived. Yang wasn't in the mood and Neo, well... well the first words said were when Yang thanked the waitress for her hot chocolate.

The woman had obviously liked her (or since she knew Neo, felt bad) and had loaded the drink with cream and marshmallow. It was nice, even if it left whipped cream on her nose. Sighing, she stared out of the window, staring out into the ocean, lazily stirring her drink.

Neo was distracted by her milkshake and a rather childish thought occurred to Yang.

"Hey babe," she said, and Neo looked up. "You want some?"

Neo smiled her approval leaning forward for Yang who chose that moment to flick a marshmallow threatening to fall off the glass. It bounced off Neos cheek who jumped with surprise and Yang laughed as Neo scowled at her.

"What? You said you wanted some?"

Remaining unamused Neo glared at her with a look that demanded an apology. When Yang just smiled back, she folded her arm and leaned back. Yang rolled her eyes, beginning to get annoyed herself.

"Oh, come on, it was just a joke. You've done way worse to me." Neo remained unmoved. "I'm not apologising over a joke so stop being a bitch about it."

Yang met her gaze, stubbornness refusing to let her give in even as Neo raised an eyebrow, warningly. When Yang still did nothing, Neo stood up and ang blinked.

"Wait where are you going?"

She didn't reply, simply picking up her parasol and moving to stroll out. As she past, Yang felt her race and she grabbed her arm.

"Don't leave," she whispered, staring at the ground. "Please..."

Neo held her ground expectantly, not leaving but not sitting back down either. She remained unsmiling, challenge in her eyes and they both knew what she wanted. After a few more seconds of silence, she made to move again.

"I'm sorry," Yang blurted out. "I shouldn't have done that. You're not a bitch I am. Please don't go."

Neo smiled, leaning forward and running her hand through Yang's hair. Turning around she traced her hand over Yang's cheek before sliding back down into her seat and returning to her milkshake.

They didn't speak again until the food arrived. The waitress had sprinkled some coco over Yang's porridge. She tried to stir it away.

* * *

"Yang!"

She blinked as she heard Weiss's voice, looking up and seeing the small girl marching towards her. Yang's eyes flickered towards Neo who had perked up at Weiss's arrival and Yang felt herself irrationally panic a little. She tried to calm herself down. It wasn't like Neo could do anything.

"Weiss," she said quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"Going to work, you know that thing you used to do?" Weiss eyes sparked with annoyance. "What are you doing?"

"Having breakfast."

"Don't give me that after the stunt you pulled last night."

"What are you taking about?"

"What am I talking about? I'm talking about getting Sun to drop you off at your 'uncles' only Blake didn't recognise the address." Weiss seethed. "She was phoning everyone trying to find out where you were."

"Sorry I got you woken up."

"Seriously? Look Yang we have tried to be supportive and we get you're going through a tough time but clearly giving you space isn't working. I'm done enabling your little pity-" Weiss stopped ranting, noticing Neo smiling up at her for the first time. "I'm sorry who are you?"

"Her names Neo," Yang said, regretting it immediately. "Look just, I'm fine okay. Just tell everyone I'm fine."

"Oh, you're fine? Why didn't you say so? I guess I was worrying over nothing and Ruby was crying down the phone over a silly misunderstanding."

Yang's anger rose and died as Weiss mentioned her sister. She flinched under Weiss's icy gaze and fidgeted with her spoon.

"Is she okay?" She said softly.

"Call her and find out," Weiss snapped before sighing. "Look Yang, please just come home before you do something you regret."

Too late.

"Look Weiss, I'm fine. Just tell everyone I'm fine okay. Tell Ruby not to worry. Make sure she stays at school. Tell her to have fun. I'll talk to her soon."

"I'm not lying to her for you Yang."

"I'm not asking you too." Yang wasn't sure if that was a lie. "Look Weiss, please just go before-" she paused. "Just go."

It was a hesitation that didn't go unnoticed by either girl as Neo raised an eyebrow at Yang and smiled. Thankfully, Weiss didn't notice that, too focused on her friend.

"Before what?"

"Before you're late."

There was a long silence as Weiss stared down at Yang, trying to get a read on the situation. A couple of times, Yang saw her piercing blue eyes dart towards Neo who just smiled back. Yang thanked whatever god was out there that Neo didn't choose that minute to act out.

"Fine," Weiss said shortly. "But this isn't over Yang. You can't keep shoving your problems forever. You're going to have to talk to her eventually"

"I will. Please tell Ruby I'll phone her when I can."

Weiss sighed turning and walking away out of the store. She paused, almost out of earshot before saying quietly.

"I wasn't talking about Ruby."

* * *

The rest of the breakfast passed by without further incident, thankfully. You never really knew when Neo was involved. Sure, she tried to pester Yang a little, curious about who Weiss was and she seemed to finally be starting to wonder why Yang had turns up again in the first place.

Yang managed to avoid most of it. Weiss was just the newest worker and that's all Neo needed to know. Who she used to be didn't matter and Weiss didn't deserve whatever cruel game Neo would almost certainly come up with if found out Weiss was a Schnee.

As for why Yang was here, she lied about that too. She felt lonely and had just wanted someone she could rely on. She didn't mention Coco, just playing to Neos ego and it seemed to work.

The sad thing was it was kind of true. She could rely on Neo. She wasn't going anywhere, she was never going to leave her because Neo loved having Yang. It wasn't proper love but maybe that's all Yang deserved. She drove real love away.

Neo payed for breakfast and Yang left the tip Neo had no intention of leaving. The waitress had been nice to her after all.

And now they walked. Not really going anywhere but with nowhere really to go. Neo was happy at least, practically skipping as they went. She didn't have a care in the world. Part of Yang envied her for that. To just not give a damn and simply enjoy herself instead of feeling this emptiness that sat inside her.

"Yang."

Her heart stopped. For a moment she swore it did. It had to be a mistake or maybe she had simply misheard. But she had heard it right and so had Neo if the tightening of her hand had been any indication. Slowly she turned, catching Neos glare as she did.

And there she was. Blake stood a little away from them, her expression unreadable. Her hands were clenched at her side as she started to walk towards them. Yang moved almost without thinking, taking a step forward before feeling Neos hand grip her arm.

"Get your hands off of her!"

Neo did what she wanted, Yang had never seen her do anything otherwise. But the way Blake spoke, she probably hadn't even realised she had let go. All Yang knew was that she was released, and she wasn't going to waste the chance. She couldn't let Neo near Blake.

She rushed forward to meet her... to meet Blake and just try and do something.

"What are you doing here?" Yang said. "How did you- Weiss told you."

"You're damn right she did. What the hell are you doing? You're back with Neo," Blake hissed. "I'm not letting you do that to yourself again."

"She's not that bad."

"Not that bad? Yang she's a psychopath."

Neo coughed, not to protest, just to remind them she was there. Blake just ignored her while Yang's heart pounded in her chest.

"What do you want Blake," she asked. "I'm told Weiss and I told Sun. I'm fine. I don't want any of you around. Just forget about me and leave me alone."

"I'm not going to do that Yang. Maybe once I would have. I would have blamed myself, I would have panicked, and I would have ran. But I'm not that person anymore. I'm not going to let you destroy yourself and I'll be damn sure that I won't let her destroy you either! I've been there," Blake paused for a moment and swallowed.

"I can't let you do this. So, if you won't talk to me, you can talk to anyone else. But please Yang, let me take you home."

Amber eyes looked up at Yang pleading with her to see reason. Yang hesitated, unable to meet her gaze. She should say yes, she knew that. So many of her friends had been worried about her, reaching out to try and help her. She was hurting them so much.

This was why she should stay away. Yang was poison. She just hurt people, no matter what she tried to do. Why was she like this? She didn't them. She deserved Neo. Glancing away from Blake, she turned back to Neo who smiled at her, her eyes emotionless. This was what Yang deserved.

And then she felt someone grasp her hand. She flinched turning around slowly and staring at the ground. Blakes hand reached out to her, lightly grasping Yang's chin and tilting her up to look.

Swallowing, Yang met Blakes gaze, Amber eyes filled with concern. Those were eyes that cared about her.

So slowly, she nodded, and Blake smiled.

"Okay," Yang almost whispered. "Okay."

It was like a weight had been taken off her shoulders, just by saying the words. Emotions and regrets she had been trying to squash down and repress were released threatening to overwhelm her but somehow, she managed to hold herself together.

Blake squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and Yang took her first step forward and then remembered Neo just as she grabbed her hand.

Blinking, Yang turned catching Blakes eyes as they blazed with fury, but she managed to hold her back.

"No, I'll talk to her. I brought her into this..."

Blake seemed to want to protest but held her tongue even if she was still shaking. Yang tried to smile, doing her best to reassure her though she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince. She stepped forward pulling away from Blake slightly, so she and Neo could talk.

"Neo," she began. "I'm s- I I shouldn't have come back to you. It was a mistake. I don't know what thinking."

Neos hands clenched around her parasol but Yang continued despite how hard it was to meet the girls furious gaze.

"You're bad for me Neo, you always have been. I tried to use you to make me feel better, but you don't want that. You want something to-" she heard her voice crack. "-to play with. I can't be that again. Goodbye Neo. This time, for good. Good bye."

She turned around and back to Blake letting out a shaky breath. Blake gave her a small reassuring smile, but it was enough to make her feel just a little bit more whole again.

"No," Neo said.

Yang turned just in time to see Neo swing her parasol up and towards her face.

 ** _Smack_**

She blinked, staring dumbly at the parasol as it sat a few inches from her face, shaking. Neos eyes were contorted with fury, her muscles strained as she tried to take back control of her weapon.

But Blakes grip was strong. Yang hadn't even seen her move but here she stood, in front Yang having caught the blow with one hand. She was looking down at Neo and Yang couldn't see her expression. But she could see Neos and she saw it change from anger to fear.

 ** _Crack_**

Neo let out a shriek of pain, collapsing onto her knees and clutching her newly broken nose. Yang stepped backwards in shock as Blake cracked the parasol over her legs, snapping it in half.

"If you ever go near Yang again," she hissed. "I will fucking kill you."

She threw down the pieces, shaking slightly before looking up at Yang.

"Sorry, but she was going to hit you..."

* * *

They took a taxi back to Yang's house. It wasn't all that far away but Yang wasn't sure if she could handle the walk. They didn't really talk either. There was only one thing they could talk about and it wasn't a conversation to be had in the back of a taxi.

Blake payed when they arrived, and Yang promised to pay her back. They walked up to the front door and Yang braced herself when she heard the barking. Sure enough, her keys didn't make the lock before her dad threw open the door.

She didn't know if any of the words she said were audible before she was sobbing into his chest and he was telling her it was okay. He brought her inside and they talked in the kitchen while Blake sat patiently in another room. Zwei ran around Yang's legs, whining sympathetically while Yang just tried to say she was sorry about everything.

"Excuse me Mr Xiao Long," Blake said, and Yang wondered how long she had been standing there. "But can I talk to Yang... alone."

Taiyang hesitated.

"Look Blake I appreciate you for bringing Yang home but..."

"I know but it's important. Please."

"It's alright Dad," Yang said. "I'll be alright."

Her Dad paused again, the moment stretching into a minute before he slowly let her go from his embrace. She smiled, trying to convince him it was okay all while her own heart pounded in her mouth.

They went upstairs, the Yang leading the way and when they got to her room, Yang made sure Zwei stayed outside. Despite what she might say, Yang knew that Blake was still nervous around dogs.

She clicked the door shut, letting her head rest against it as she worked up the courage to turn around. Blake didn't rush her, she appreciated that. She just waited patiently, sitting on the bed until Yang was able to sit down next to her.

"Sorry about the mess," Yang said looking around her tip of a room. "I uhh, haven't really been here all that much."

Stating the obvious. What a great start.

"It's fine," Blake said. "I liked that about you. You didn't let little things keep you down. Back in school whenever we had a project due, I would stress out for hours, but you could calm me down. It was just one test, what's the worst that could happened."

"Yeah but you're the reason we got any good grades at all."

"Please, you're the only reason I got through chemistry."

Yang smiled.

"I just kept hoping we could get to explosions if I stuck at it." She sighed. "School was so simpler. I kinda miss that. It felt like I was working towards something."

"You feel lost."

It wasn't a question.

"Sometimes. It's like everyone has these big plans or dreams. Even Rubys at college now. And I'm just still here but I don't know what else to do."

"You don't have to be," Blake said. "You could do a lot Yang. I know you could."

Yang didn't say anything to that and silence fell back upon them until Yang finally just said it.

"I'm sorry I kissed you. I shouldn't have done that."

"No," Blake said without judgment. "Probably not."

"And I'm sorry I told you I love you."

At this point Blake shook her head.

"Don't be. Not for that. I'm sorry I didn't notice how much I was hurting you."

"It's not your-"

"Yes, it is," Blake insisted. "I tried to blame Sun, Nora, Weiss and Ren for not telling me but honestly what could they say? I used to think I was so clever. I'd watch Jaune and Weiss walk around oblivious to Pyrrha and Ruby and the entire time I was worse."

"It wasn't your problem."

"It should have been. You're my best friend and in a way, I do love you too. Just not in the way you want me to."

"I- I know."

Blake hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to proceed before placing her hand on Yang's.

"Yang, can I ask you something?" She nodded. "Since... it happened. Who have you thought about, me or Coco?"

Looking up Yang blinked. She didn't understand the question and her confusion must have been obvious on her face. Blake winced.

"I'm sorry, it's just... please think about it."

"I guess... I was scared about losing you," Yang said. "Well I guess I was scared about losing all you."

"What about Coco?"

"I-" Yang swallowed. "I thought about a lot of things. I haven't felt like that for anyone in... I don't know when."

"You loved her."

"Yeah..."

She brushed her eyes. Why did she end it that way? What must Coco have thought of her? Why couldn't she have just done right? Why did- She felt Blakes hand on hers and looked up to her concerned face.

"Yang?"

"Huh?"

"You were breathing fast."

"I was?" Blake nodded, waiting for her to continue. "I was thinking about how we ended it. I did it wrong."

God that sounded lame.

"It's not too late to talk to her."

"Yeah it is. Her job pressured her to move quickly. She's already moved."

"We do have scrolls Yang," Blake said with a small smile. "I know it's not the same, but you can talk to her. Or message her if you aren't up for a phone call."

Yang smiled slightly.

"Yeah, I suppose I could," she said before frowning. "But why are you asking about her?"

"Because you loved her," Blake hesitated again, trying to work out how to continue. "But those feelings you have for her, is that how you feel about me?"

Yang couldn't answer and after waiting a moment, Blake continued carefully.

"You don't love me Yang," she said gently. "You love an idea of me."

"What?"

"I know I'm sorry and I shouldn't be telling you how you feel but after everything you just said. The last few days weren't because of me. It was because of Coco."

"We've been friends for so long," she continued. "And you've supported me through so much and I've tried to help you when I can."

"You have."

Blake smiled sadly.

"Obviously not enough. You wouldn't have missed all this like I did."

"Blake..."

"You're not in loved with me. You're lonely. You're scared, and I do want to help, but I can't be what you want me to be. I'm sorry..."

Her friend looked away from her, ashamed and guilty over what she'd said even as Yang looked at her. What she was saying made sense, even if Yang wasn't sure if she believed it.

"Don't be sorry," she said. "I don't know how I feel about you. I don't know if you've noticed but I'm kinda a mess right now." Blake laughed slightly, rubbing her eyes a little as she did. "But there's one thing I'm sure about Blake. I don't want you to ever not be my best friend. I don't want to lose you, any of you."

"You won't Yang," Blake said pulling her into a hug. "We won't let you."

* * *

They talked for a while longer before Blake finally left. Then her dad came in and Yang talked more. It was tiring for both of them. She could see her dad was angry with her for how much she'd put him through but relief that she was home seemed to override it.

Eventually he let her go, saying he would run her a bath and make dinner. It had been a while since Yang had eaten proper food. She lay on her bed exhausted and still thinking about Blakes talk. About how she felt and what she had said...

Yang rolled over picking up her scroll and flicking through her contacts. She paused on the name, her finger hovering for what felt like an age. Then she swallowed and typed out a message.

 _Coco_

 _I'm just messaging to see how you are. Sorry I didn't do it sooner I've just been going through some things._

 _It's not your fault and I'm feeling better now. Just a had a lot more issues than I thought I guess..._

 _I'm sorry I ended it the way I did. You meant a lot to me and I hate that I ruined it at the end. I know I'll always remember our drives together and I hope that you will too._

 _I hope things go well for you. Actually, I know they will. You're going to do amazing things. Just when you are designing million-dollar Adel dresses, make sure to remember to name one of them the Yang dress_

Yang sighed as she sent the message, putting her scroll on her bedside table. It didn't really feel like enough, but it was all she had in her right now. God, she had a lot of people she had to talk to soon.

But she could do that later. For now, she just needed to rest. Yang closed her eyes and let exhaustion finally overwhelm her, falling asleep alone in her bed.

And for the first time, in a very long time, that didn't seem so bad.


	37. Chapter 37

Weiss spent the first half of the shift walking around eggshells.

She really wasn't trying to. Walking to work today she has psyched herself up to not treat Yang any differently. It was her first shift back and Weiss knew that if she was in the blondes' place, Weiss would just want to get on with it.

And then they had gotten to work, said hello and Weiss had barely said two words since. Mostly just coughing awkwardly and non-committal comments about how the weather was.

Dammit she was bad at this.

Finally, after an incident involving Weiss knocking over a muffin Yang had brought for breakfast, which they both tried to pick up at the same time, then they hit heads and then Weiss stepped on the Muffin, Weiss finally decided to just stop trying.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, its fine, hurts like a bitch but I'll walk it off," Yang said with a smile as she rubbed her head. "You?"

"I wasn't talking about our heads."

Yang chuckled, scratching her hair awkwardly. Like Weiss had thought, this was clearly a conversation Yang had been party to a few times too many, and Weiss hated to add to the pile. Which was why it was incredibly selfish that Weiss was going to have to do it anyway.

"We haven't really talked since everything happened," she said softly. "How are you feeling?"

"Better mostly," Yang said. "Just trying to get back to normal, ya know? Working a lot. I kinda burned through most of my savings. Who knew drinking and clubbing every day was so expensive?"

"Yang..."

""Yeah sorry. The doc says I should stop doing that so much."

Weiss frowned.

"You're seeing a therapist?" She saw Yang's eyes fall slightly. "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"It's fine Weiss, I know it's weird."

"I didn't say that. I think it's admirable."

"Admirable?"

"Yes. Lots of people refuse to get the help they need. I'm glad I'm not friends with an oaf who's too proud or stubborn to see a therapist."

"Aww I thought you liked me as an oaf?"

"I do, which is why I want you to be happy."

"Thanks Weiss." They smiled at each other for a moment before it suddenly felt weird and Yang coughed. "Anyway, Oz is pretty cool I guess. He's the therapist for Atlas so my uncle got me in. It's been... helpful. I guess. No judgement or anything."

"That's good." Weiss began wiping down the counter, wondering how she could phrase her next question delicately. "So how are things with Blake?"

"Smooth."

"I don't know what you mean."

"I bet." Yang chuckled. "It's different. We're still talking which is good. She's trying her best to understand and help me through everything."

"But how is it now she knows-" she stopped herself. "Never mind."

"Now she knows I was in love with her." Yang finished. "Well she kinda thinks I'm not."

"She said that?"

"Yeah."

What a bitch

Yang laughed and for a worried moment, Weiss thought she might have said that out loud, before assuring herself that she hadn't.

"What?"

"Nothing it's just that Ozpin made that same face when I told him."

Weiss sighed. She used to consider herself fairly hard to read as well. Had she gotten worse or had she just been delusional.

It was hard to imagine why Blake had said that. She was Weiss's friend too so she was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt but still, it was awfully dismissive.

Yang hummed slightly, bending down to a cupboard so she could fill up the toppings boxes for the counter.

"Like I get what she was saying."

"You do."

"Yeah, she was wrong. Pretty sure I was in love with her... god that sounds bad." yang groaned. "But I don't think I am anymore. I think I kinda moved on with her when I was with Coco..." She sighed. "After we ended it, I got scared and I fell back to Blake. It wasn't really about her that time. I think that's what she was trying to say."

There was a long silence with Weiss unable to come up with anything else comforting to say. Gods, maybe she should see a therapist. Maybe Winter could get her an appointment too.

Then again there wasn't enough hours in the day to unpick the knot of issues that came with being a Schnee. Hello miss Schnee, where would you like to start today? Is it your distant mother or controlling father? Ahh your high school friends who you helped abuse your actual friend and then dropped you when you became an inconvenience. Excellent choice.

"Okay I think we're done," Yang said, putting down a chocolate fruit gateau in the display. "And fifteen minutes before we open. Up top!"

Rolling her eyes, Weiss gave the high five with a smile.

"Not quite. We still have to take the rubbish out."

Yang's face fell.

"Ugh I forgot about that. Nora was on yesterday so there's no way the tubs were empty first. It's going to drip," she moaned. Then her eyes widened. "You know Weiss, I did only just recently come back from a small mental breakdown."

"Are you seriously playing that card?"

"Too soon?"

Weiss shook her head, bemused at the situation. Still it did give her an idea. If she really wanted to get things back to normal.

"Tell you what Xiao Long. How about a little wager? Loser takes out the trash."

* * *

One lost garbage basket toss loss later (well of course I let you win, it's your first day back) and Weiss was taking out the bins. Yang was gracious enough to hold open the dumpster, which was nice of her. Still smelled though.

The start of the shift was uneventful. Take orders, give out coffee, dish out cake, scoop ice cream. Nothing to write home about really and by this point, Weiss could almost auto pilot through the morning rush, working quickly, efficiently and effectively.

"Do you need me to clean that Weiss?"

"I got it!"

Okay, mostly effective.

Still it had never been a challenging job and Weiss hadn't been expecting any surprises today anyway. She was happy to just be back to normal.

"Hello Weiss."

"Winter!" She snapped bolt upright behind the counter. "I mean, hello sister I didn't see you come in."

Winter raised an eyebrow at her and Weiss tried not to think about the coffee ring stains on the counter that Winter was no doubt judging. Or the tables on the left that she still had to clear. Or the fact that the waffle iron still had bits of burnt batter stuck to it, oh who even did that. This place looked like a disaster.

And of course, Winter looked immaculate as always. Ordered, elegant, not a single hair out of place and... looking remarkably casual compared to how she usual dressed. A white blouse that wasn't fully buttoned, flats and - was Winter wearing black denim?

"I'm not surprised," Winter said snapping Weiss from her stunned stance. "You hardly seem attentive to potential customers."

"That's your sister?" Yang asked, dubiously only to receive two glares from blue eyes. "I mean, that's your sister."

"I'm so sorry Winter. We just weren't really expecting anyone in anytime soon." It was only then Weiss noticed that Winter wasn't alone. Behind her and looking like they were trying to repress laughter were a few women around Winters age. "Can we get you all anything?"

Winter turned back to them, quickly them what they were wanting. Weiss could see them glance at her occasionally and giggle a little. Oh, these must be Winters work colleagues. For a minute there, Weiss thought she had secrets friends.

Taking the order and trying to ignore one of them whispering "she's like a mini you". Weiss got to work with Yang. It was strange. Winter had never come to her work before and shouldn't she be in the office anyway. Her late nights had been winding down now the Vytal festival was over and they were finishing up the paperwork and such.

"So, my guess," Yang said, so only Weiss could hear. "Is work finally got to be too much so your sister kicked down her boss's door, quit her job and came here to tell you."

Weiss snorted slightly deciding to humour Yang's ridiculous idea.

"And the girls?"

"Probably grabbed them on the way out. I'd follow her. You're sisters hot." Weiss smacked her arm. "Kidding."

"My sister is not a lesbian Yang."

"That's the unbelievable part of this story for you?"

"And she did not quit her job or kick down a door."

Yang shrugged indicating that this was clearly a mystery that would never be solved before leaving Weiss to hand the drinks over. The two sisters smiled, Winter payed and Weiss thanked her for her custom. Just because they were related didn't mean she wasn't still a customer after.

"Oh my god," one of Winters colleagues said finally. "Are you really not going to tell her?"

"I was getting there."

"We were about to leave," another dead panned.

"Winter you're unbelievable."

These people seemed way too happy for them to be friends with Winter... or vice versa. In any case, Weiss was getting impatient.

"Tell me what?"

"Your sister is no longer Ironwoods Assistant!"

Weiss froze and behind her she could hear Yang stumble to catch something she'd dropped in surprise. Had Winter really walked out of her job? Had she kicked down the door? Was Winter a lesbian?

Winter seemed oblivious to how these revelations were playing havoc with Weiss's mental state and seemed more annoyed that she hadn't been the one to drop it herself. She gave an exasperated look that lacked any real ice to her friend before turning back to Weiss.

"I got promoted."

Oh... that made more sense.

"Hey congrats," Yang said. "That sounds great."

"Yes, that's wonderful," Weiss said slightly embarrassed Yang had reacted faster. "You've been working so hard."

"It's not a big deal. A slight pay rise but most of my job stays the same."

Her voice betrayed her pride, but Weiss couldn't blame her sister. From what she knew, Winter had been at the same level at Atlas since starting years ago, their father managing to block her attempts up the corporate ladder without being near them. She had worked hard to get this, and she deserved to be a little smug. Weiss was happy for her.

* * *

Her scroll vibrated in her pocket and Weiss smiled. It wasn't a big one. She didn't try to broadcast the joy she felt to the world nor did she shout out her elation. It was just a small happy smile that only one person could make her feel.

 _Ruby - Hey baby, are you Cinderella?_

Weiss sighed. Of course, only Ruby could make her do that just as quickly.

 _Weiss - What?_

 _Ruby - Cause I wanna see you out of that dress by midnight ;)_

At reading this, Weiss actually face palmed. Beside her, Weiss's walking companion gave a snort of laughter and Weiss turned to Yang with an exasperated glare.

"Was that you're idea?"

"She asked for my best pickup lines," Yang shrugged. "I said would do my best."

"You shouldn't lie to your sister like that."

Shaking her head, she typed out her reply to her girlfriend.

 _Weiss - You really need to stop with those, I'm not even going to see you till Friday_

There was a brief pause before Ruby replied

 _Ruby - so you'll be out of the dress by then?_

 _Ruby- Is that a promise ;)_

Weiss sighed, bemused.

 _Weiss- You should stick with the adorable awkward babbling rather than overly confident flirting_

 _Weiss - you're much better at that_

 _Ruby - :(_

 _Weiss - ;)_

Smirking to herself, Weiss put away her scroll realising she was being rude. She could talk to Ruby later but now she was leaving Yang in silence as they walked back to Weiss's apartment complex.

Weiss was just going home but Yang needed to visit her uncle. Apparently, she still had clothes there from when she had been crashing there and her uncle was complaining about it. Apparently having his niece's clothes lying around was throwing off his game. Weiss thought he should just pick them up personally.

"Sorry about that," Weiss said with a smile. "Your sister was being a pain."

Yang laughed.

"Yeah she does that. Don't pretend you don't love it."

"I put up with it. There's a difference."

"Oh please. You still make the doe eye face whenever you text her. When she doesn't text back within ten seconds you just stare at your screen, and you talk to her more than me and my dad do."

"I uhh, well..." Weiss fumbled her clever comeback and defaulted to scowling. "Okay fine, I like my girlfriend. Happy now?"

"Oh no, my sister and friend are happy together. How will I cope?" Yang grinned dodging back from Weiss's attempts to smack her arm. "Okay I'll stop. You looking forward to seeing her?"

Weiss smiled despite all her efforts to prove Yang wrong. Yes she was

Ruby was coming back home for her first visit since moving away and yes, Weiss was looking forward to seeing. Actually, she was looking forward to doing more than just seeing but Yang wouldn't want to hear that. Skype just wasn't the same.

"Obviously, though I imagine she will spend most of her time with you and your father," Weiss said, not bitter at all. "Any time is good though."

"Come on, you know Ruby would have just waited till Dad and me came to see her right. She's coming back to see you." Weiss felt her heart warm at that. "Hey it's the doe eye face."

"Ugh you're the worst Yang."

* * *

After a short walk and more teasing, the two friends arrived at the Atlas accommodation. The car park was mostly empty with it being around four and Weiss followed Yang across to the opposite side of the complex than she lived in. Yang had a key, so she just let them in, Weiss saying she would keep her company until after she picked up her clothes.

"Are you sure, "Yang said. "You don't have to. I mean, I know you don't exactly like my uncle."

"That's not true."

Yang gave her a look.

"Okay so I'm not his biggest fan..."

Shaking her head, Yang headed to the stairs, Weiss following quickly behind as she tried to justify her stance.

"He just seems incredibly unprofessional and I'm pretty sure he was drunk at the Vytal festival."

"He probably was."

"And he got Winter put in a dunk tank."

"Which you then spent like 30 Lien at."

"It wasn't that much." It was more. "Besides that's not the point."

Yang sighed as they reached her uncles floor.

"Look I know Qrow's a bit... much at first but he really is a good guy. He wasn't just playing around with your sister. He didn't mean anything by it. It's just like our dumb bets and stuff. You only do that with people you like, right?"

Weiss scoffed.

"You think that my sister was doing all that because she enjoys it."

"If she's anything like you, yeah probably." Yang shrugged. "I don't know, how does your sister normally act around her friends."

Until today, Weiss didn't know that Winter had any. She knew her sister had always struggled with it a bit when they were younger, with Weiss always naturally better in the spotlight. Now Winter was more confident, but Weiss had to admit, she hadn't seen her act like she did with Qrow since... well anyone really.

"You're being ridiculous. My sister does not want to be friends with your uncle."

Yang shrugged, noncommittally.

"You know her better than I do. I can just you that while Qrow might be an ass sometimes, if he doesn't like someone, he just doesn't bother with them. But my dad, Ruby and I, he teases constantly."

"Sounds familiar."

Finally reaching a door, the blonde laughed as Weiss folded her arms.

"Hey, who knew charm could be genetic."

"You're not charming."

"I'm so charming."

"No."

"Yup."

And before Weiss could rebuttal, Yang knocked heavily on the door several times as though this would win the argument for her. Annoyingly, it did, as there were the sounds of a thump, a crash and a man swearing.

The two girls looked at each other and Yang gave a half-hearted chuckle.

"Uhh he was probably just taking a nap..."

"Passed out you mean?"

"Well... you know."

A few minutes later and the door opened revealing a rather dishevelled, looking Qrow. His hair was a mess, his shirt half buttoned and untucked. Weiss was just happy he had put on his trousers.

"Yang... Ever heard of phoning ahead?" His gaze turned to Weiss and he blinked. "And you brought a friend. Great."

Yang laughed awkwardly, scratching her head while Weiss just folded her arms, defaulting to scowl.

"Hey Qrow," Yang said. "I just kinda figured you wouldn't be doing anything cause, well you know... I came for my stuff."

She at least had the decency to look sheepish though even as she grinned, she moved to step into the flat only for Qrow to block her with his arm. He pulled the door closer to closed, blocking most of the view. Yang stopped, looking up at his confused until realisation dawned on her face.

"Oh...oh gross. It's the middle of the day."

"Hey!"

"Ugh I should have phoned."

"Yeah, you should."

Weiss shook her head, not at all impressed by his candour when talking to his nieces about taking home some floozie in the middle of the day. Did he have no shame?

Still morbid curiosity made her look past his arm into his apartment. It looked just like Winters, no doubt Atlas having a similar layout for all homes. The furniture was placed differently (and in worse locations she might add).

The couch was facing away one of the bedroom walls with the TV presumably mounted there. His table poked out from behind the kitchen bunker, with tacky chairs and a white coat that-

Weiss froze.

"Is there something wrong with your friend," Qrow said as he and Yang stared at Weiss. "The ice princess seems to be broken." He followed her gaze into the apartment and his own eyes landed on the jacket.

"... well shit."

"Winter!" Weiss practically shrieked, pushing past Qrow roughly and into the apartment. "I know you're in here."

The place was a mess, cushions knocked on the ground and shoes scattered around. Oh god Winters jeans had been thrown into a corner as well. Scarlet, Weiss stalked about as Yang and Qrow wondered in. The blonde did not look happy to be there.

"Weiss let's go."

"No."

"It's not our business."

"She's my sister."

"So, what? You're dating my sister."

"And my niece," Qrow added earning a glare from both of them. "Ouch."

"Not helping," Yang muttered before turning back to her. "Look just go home, calm down and talk to your sister later. You're just going to embarrass her doing it like this."

Weiss opened her mouth to rant more only to hear a click of a door. Whirling around, she found Winter standing next to the bedroom door, trying to maintain some level of dignity. It wasn't working. All she was wearing was a grey dressing gown with the words, 'world's best uncle' stitched onto the breast.

"Weiss," she said, as gracefully as she could. "Would you please stop shouting?"

"I'm not shouting!" Weiss shouted.

"Well currently you're screeching."

"Winter!"

"Look, Weiss please just go home, and we can talk about this when I get back."

"And when will that be? You might be fornicating all night for all I know." Weiss really wasn't sure what she was saying at this point. "I mean, if you been keeping your paramour secret then-"

It was at that moment, that Weiss was suddenly hoisted off her feet and landed roughly on Yang shoulder. She let out a screech of protest but unlike Yang, Weiss did not visit the gym four times a week and remained trapped in her grip.

"Yang what the hell are doing?"

"Saving the day," Yang replied cheerily. "You'll thank me later."

"Put me down!"

She tried futilely to slam her fists into Yang's back. It was like hitting a bear.

"Okay, maybe give Weiss some time to calm down before heading over. Guess I'm not getting my stuff back today, huh Qrow."

"Next time phone!"

"Put me down!"

But Weiss was trapped and could do nothing but protest as Weiss rather easily walked her out of the apartment. The door slammed shut, leaving Winter to groan and slouch down into a couch.

Qrow walked into the kitchen coming back with two glasses. He passed it down to Winter who scowled but still took it. She looked like she considered downing it and Qrow wondered if he should have brought the bottle.

"And to think Win, you were worried to tell her?" Qrow said with a smirk.

At this, Winter slammed the rest of her drink with a wince. Running her fingers through her hair, which looked great hanging loose, Qrow noted, Winter took a deep breath before suddenly standing up and heading back into the room.

Raising his eyebrow in surprise, Qrow none the less finished his drink. He considered a quip but in a rare bout of wisdom, decided not to. Instead he decided not to press his luck and just followed her into the room, with a slight swagger.

A few seconds later, he hurried back out, chased by a thrown pillow.

"I'm getting changed Qrow!"

"Right right, sorry," he said sheepishly. "That makes more sense."

* * *

Yang deposited Weiss onto the couch with an oomph. Scowling, Weiss sat back up, straightening herself up before crossing her arms annoyed. It was childish, but it was her apartment, not Yang's so she would do what she liked.

Her friend just ignored her though, groaning as she rolled her arm and tried to rub her back.

"Jesus Weiss, did you have to hit me the entire way back. I mean, it was cute and all, but I think you managed to work up to a bruise..."

"..."

"Oh, don't look at me like that. You were being ridiculous."

"I was being ridiculous? You threw me over your shoulder and carried me across half the building!"

"I am pretty great."

"I wasn't complimenting you."

"Sounded like it." Yang sighed. "Look Weiss I'm know you're upset."

"Of course, I'm upset. My sister is dating a scoundrel and-"

"Okay two things, one no one in this century uses the term scoundrel and two." Yang's face hardened a little. "He's family so stop it."

Weiss flinched slightly. She had forgotten how defensive Yang got over people she cared about. And she didn't tend to care about people who weren't worth it.

"Sorry."

"Thank you."

Yang smiled walking round the side of the couch to sit down next to Weiss, who was continuing to pout with her arms folded.

"Look I know you're upset but it's not about Qrow."

"He -"

"You're upset she didn't tell you."

"That's-"

Weiss stopped mid-sentence. It was true and they both knew it. Maybe she was being childish, but she had thought Winter trusted her. Weiss had told her when she started seeing Ruby. Weiss had told her when she had been worried about Yang. Why wouldn't Winter tell her about this?

All her hopes of things going back to normal seemed like a fool's hope. Or a fools hope at the end of the pipe dream, somewhere over the rainbow.

She felt Yang's arm on her shoulder and looked up to the blondes calming lilac eyes.

"Look Weiss, just give her a chance to explain. I'm sure she had a good reason." Yang stood up, seemingly to leave Weiss alone. "If you want to talk after, call me though I imagine you'll talk to Ruby. And who knows, maybe it'll all work out and my dad will invite you all round for Christmas."

Weiss snorted but smiled anyway.

* * *

It took Winter another half hour to get home and Weiss tried not to think too hard about that. She past the time tasking Yang's advice and calming herself down. It was only partly a good thing. As her anger faded to point she could accepted its pettiness, it started to be replaced by nerves instead.

But when Winter arrived home, she did so with a peace offering.

Thai food.

They set the table quickly, efficiently and silently, communicating the bare minimum with questions along the line of asking what the other wanted to drink. They shared the starter they always got since they couldn't normally afford one each and only on their mains did Weiss finally work up the nerve to say anything.

"I'm sorry about earlier," she said quietly. Winter didn't reply, and Weiss spun her fork around the noodles, nervously. "I was just surprised, I guess. I wasn't really expecting... It doesn't matter. I should have handled it better..."

She trailed off lamely with Winter still not having said anything. The older Schnee paused her eating, placing her fork delicately on the plate. Delicate but stiff. Despite her attempts to appear, controlled, Winter seemed to be as nervous as Weiss was. That was oddly comforting.

"I..." she cleared her throat. "I appreciate that Weiss, thank you."

The air seemed to clear between them and Weiss smiled but still something nagged at her.

"Why didn't you tell me," she asked quietly, looking down at her food. "Why did I have to find out my sister was seeing someone thing way?"

"Weiss-" Winter began.

"I know, it's not my business but I just-"

"I was embarrassed," Winter interrupted silencing her.

Well it made sense at least.

"Not about it being Qrow."

Oh. That must have been showing on her face, based on the slightly defensive look of irritation on Winters. Weiss coughed, sheepishly to look away and took a drink.

"Then what about?"

"I just... have never really dated anyone before." Winter admitted. "It got to the stage that I pretended I was above it, so I wouldn't try or, so I wouldn't be bothered no one approached me..."

It seemed ridiculous to Weiss. Sure, Winter had been a late bloomer, a had growth spurt too early and her conversions skills hadn't been great as teenagers but still... By the time she moved to Vale there was no excuse for people not approaching her.

Apart from the fact she was a Schnee. Weiss had been able to hide that at first and make friends before being unveiled but at Atlas, Winter wouldn't have been as lucky. It wasn't helped by the fact that even if Winter could now hold a conversation, her piercing gaze still tended to intimidate people. Not for the first time, it occurred to Weiss that Winter had really been alone before she moved here.

And one thing she did know about Qrow was that he was not easily intimidated.

"I didn't mean for it to happen," Winter said. "Ironwood had me work with Qrow leading up to the Vytal festival. He said I could actually handle him. When he was working he was actually quite good at his job. He made the late nights more fun at least." Weiss made a face. "Not like that."

Winter sighed.

"As vexing as Qrow can be, he's fun. I don't really know what we have or how long it will last but he's not what I once thought."

"Well if you're happy, I'm happy," Weiss declared, before adding quickly. "Not that you need it or anything... obviously."

Winter smiled.

"Thank you," she said, about to go back to her food before hesitating. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you. You deserved better than that."

Content, the two sisters went back to eating in a comfortable silence. Weiss's forlorn hope that everything would go back to normal might never happen but that was okay. If things stayed normal, Weiss would still be in Atlas. She wouldn't have her friends, her job or Ruby. She wouldn't a relationship with Winter rather than a business transaction with her father. Maybe things wouldn't be normal but normal was starting to seem overrated.

"Oh, and Weiss, we are never going on a double date."

"Agreed."

* * *

The sun began to set across the piers of Vale. A fiery red and orange that burned in sharp contrast to the cool blue of the ocean. It was beautiful, so beautiful in fact that it made an old man walking alone to pause, just to appreciate it.

Letting out a hum of contentment, he continued to walk only to stumble on something, probably the wooden pier itself. The planks were always coming loose. He would have fallen hard on it too, had strong soft hands grabbed him.

"Oh, my goodness, are you okay sir?"

He looked up into wide eyes, filled with concern and a desire for help. She helped him to steady himself, took his arm and made sure he made it to the end of the pier without further incident. He walked off, feeling lighter knowing that there were still good people in the world, willing to help.

"Idiot," Emerald muttered, once she was out of earshot. Her eyebrows raised as she opened the wallet she had swiped while making sure he was okay. "Rich idiot though."

She dumped the wallet in the nearest trash can and stashed the cash in her bag along with the watch she had taken while letting the old creep hold her arm. Funnily enough, he hadn't been too focused on his arm.

Still it worked, and this boring ass town at least had one thing going for it. Easy marks. As long as they didn't stay too long, she could probably just bear it. Walking along the pier, she paused as she passed a window. She had seen something, she wasn't sure what, but the thief had long since learned to see interesting things before registering them. Like a magpie.

Turning back to the window, she looked up to the sign to see it was a cafe. Beacon. Just an ordinary ice cream parlour and while it was uncomfortably hot, it was closed already. Useless.

Still Emerald scanned the window. She couldn't see what had caught her eye yet. Just a few local leaflets and fliers. A menu of deserts with names that made no sense and some deals for certain days.

And then she saw a few pictures with the title, "meet the staff" made from stickers above. A hot red head who was did not know how to photograph, a blonde dork. An overly happy ginger half crushing what was probably her boyfriend, poor guy. And then...

Emerald blinked, not quite believing it. A small smile spread across her face as she took out her scroll and took a photo of the four girls who looked like they had just won a race of some sort.

She shook her head, checked the opening times and walked away with a Spring in her step. Maybe this town wouldn't be a bad as she though. Whistling she tapped through her messages.

 _Emerald - You'll never guess who I just saw._


	38. Chapter 38

"Hey Weiss."

Weiss almost dropped the mug she had been holding. The words were so genial, but she recognised the voice and knew it was anything but innocent. The voice's owner was cruel, bitter and vindictive and that had just been in high school. Slowly Weiss looked up from the counter, praying hopelessly that she had been mistaken but to no avail.

"Emerald."

It was all Weiss could think to say and even then, it barely came out above a whisper. She stared dumbly at the face of Emerald Sustrai, grinning like the Cheshire Cat back at her. It was a familiar grin to Weiss. It was the grin Emerald got anytime she got one over on Mercury or some other poor less deserving soul. Just like that, Weiss was back in high school, remembering all the horrible things she had done, the person she had been.

Emerald had changed a little in the time since Weiss had last seen her. Her vibrant green hair was shaved on one side, showing off a bar piercing in the shape of an arrow through the top of one ear. She wore light hooded fingerless gloves, with her nails painted red showing through, but apart from that, she was dressed for Vales beach weather though still looked a little uncomfortable in it. At least that hadn't changed, Emerald could hate anything.

"Fancy seeing you here," Emerald said, leaning forward on the counter. "Long time no see."

"It's certainly been a while," she replied evenly.

Internally, thought her mind was racing, a buzz with questions. Why was Emerald here? Was she alone. Was Mercury with her? Was Cinder? Was she staying? Had she come looking for Weiss? What did she want?

Emerald laughed, and Weiss wondered if Emerald could see how anxious she was getting. She felt like it was probably written all over her face. A spotlight on her discomfort that Emerald revelling in.

"Geez Weiss I know you're not used to working for a living but aren't you meant to ask if I want anything."

"Oh- right... well?"

"Hmm," Emerald said, tapping her chin slightly. She was drawing it out on purpose. She wanted to watch Weiss squirm. "It is hot out there... how about some ice cream? Watching you scoop should be entertainingly abysmal. Love the uniform by the way. Hot... in a sort of 1920s sort of way."

Weiss let the comment go, just wanting her gone. Emerald had arrived after the morning rush, so Beacon was empty. Nora was back of house stocking the freezer so if Weiss was lucky, maybe Emerald would get bored and leave before anyone was the wiser. Her brush with the past could remain just that.

She did drag the tip jar out of Emeralds reach though. Beacon wasn't losing money because of her. Emerald raised an eyebrow at that though she didn't look offended. Guessed she hadn't changed all that much then. She still no shame at all.

"What flavour?"

"Surprise me. You got this right? For old times' sake?"

"...Sure," she muttered, yanking out a cone.

She could pay for a cone if meant that Emerald would leave quicker and without making a scene. She agonised over the counter wondering what the least offensive flavour would be so Emerald couldn't comment. Mint would get a comparison to her hair, she'd hate bubble-gum only based on the colour, so she settled for chocolate.

As she was making her way back to the counter, she heard Emerald say.

"What no sauce and sprinkles? Dont skimp me Weiss."

Repressing a groan, Weiss complied, generously coating it in rainbows and criss-crossing it with toffee. She passed it across to Emerald, resisting the urge to ram it in her smug face. It would almost be worth it just to see that smugness vanish, just in the moment. And she was working with Nora today. Out of all her friends, Nora would appreciate it the most and probably deny it happened later if asked.

Instead she just passed it over and watched as Emerald licked it, letting out a hum of approval.

"Hmm, not bad Weiss." She took another bite. "Really happy you found your calling in life."

The words stung more than they should have.

"What do you want Emerald?"

"Who says I want anything? Maybe it was just hot out."

"You always wanted something."

"Still mad huh?"

"You used me," Weiss hissed.

"Oh please," Emerald said with a causal wave of her hand. "Sure, Mercury went a little far with it, but you had fun while it lasted. You wanted to hang with the cool kids and piss off daddy, well you got what you wanted."

"You think you were the cool kids? Cool kids are popular. Not outcasts."

Emeralds eyes darkened for a moment, the insult hitting home like Weiss knew it would.

"Doesn't really matter. We never lied about who we were. You were fine with us when Amber was pissing you off."

"I did not want that."

"Sure, you didn't," Emerald said, though for the barest second, she looked uncertain. "Point is, you knew who we were. What did you expect?"

Friendship at the very least. Trust and companionship among other things. People who would have her back when she needed them. Like she would have with them if the time had needed it.

But there was still that small nagging doubt. The one that came at nights when she was alone in the dark. The reason she sometimes struggled to sleep when she thought about how things used to be.

Would you have though?

It's really easy to say you would and not at all hard to say it now without burden. But would she have really put herself on the line to help them. Mercury hated his dad and with good reason from what Weiss knew. Emerald had been on her third foster home and Cinder...

Well Cinder had bad days. The days when she came into school with bruises on her arm, a longer skirt and a plainer make up. Those were the days they had known to stay out of Cinders way, though Emerald normally couldn't help herself and suffered for it. Cinder would return to normal after a few days, transition back to her regular attire and none of them would mention it.

Had worst come to it and any of them had needed to leave, would Weiss have offered? Would she have waited to see if anyone else did or make up some excuse about her father saying no despite her never asking. Maybe she wasn't as bad as them, but had she really been different?

"That's what I thought," Emerald said. "I'll be seeing you Weiss."

"You're leaving?"

"Don't worry, I'll be around Vale for a bit longer." Emerald sauntered over to the window, running her finger over a photo stuck there. "Who's the brunette? She's kinda cute. You're looking pretty cosy with her too..."

Her breath caught in her throat and it took all her strength to repress a shout. Emerald might just be joking and reacting would give her away. And if she knew then rising to her bait was just what she wanted. Just deflect.

"Emerald, are they with you?"

"Who?"

"You know who," she snapped before composing herself. "Mercury and- and Cinder."

There was a long pause and then with one final smile, Emerald walked out of the shop leaving Weiss alone. For a few seconds she didn't do anything. She didn't even move. Then she heard Nora walking back into the front of shop loudly humming to herself.

"Hey Weiss, were you talking to someone?"

Releasing a breath, she didn't know she had been holding, Weiss forced herself to relax. They might not know. Surely Emerald would have rubbed it in her face if she had told them. Maybe they weren't here at all and it was just Emerald. Maybe...

"Uhh Beacon to Weiss, can you hear me?"

"What? Oh, sorry Nora. I guess I was day dreaming."

Nora didn't seem convinced.

"Day nightmare more like. You okay? You look kinda tense there."

Unclenching her body, Weiss forced a smile and turned back to the counter to distract herself.

"Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." She took a sharp breath. "Now quit trying to slack off, don't you have work to do."

* * *

The rest of the shift past in a blur. Weiss spent all her time looking over her shoulder expecting Emerald to walk back in at any moment. Or even worse, for Cinder to be brought in. She was jumpy and tense causing Nora to ask her more than once if she was okay.

All in all, she had never been more relieved to finish a shift, feeling more like defending a wall from an attack then scooping ice cream. Giving Weiss a quick good bye, she changed quickly out of the uniform and left to go to the train station to meet up with Yang and her dad.

"She's going to be happiest to see me," Yang said with a smirk.

"What? I'm her father. That's way better than sister."

"In what universe? I like Ruby way more than you."

Zwei barked excitedly, running around their legs as the two blondes continued their incredulous bickering.

"Well maybe Ruby will be more grateful to the man who raised her." Taiyang grimaced. "And the one paying for everything."

"Can't buy love Dad."

"Then why do we give valentine presents."

Yang shook her head as Taiyang knowingly tapped his head as though this had won him the debate.

"What do you think Weiss?... Weiss."

"Huh, oh sorry I was just... never mind."

Tai continued his knowing nod as he smiled at them.

"Daydreaming huh? Ahh to be young again."

"Gross, dad."

Weiss blushed and laughed though she didn't think Taiyang had really meant it like that.

"To answer your question Yang, I would ask why both of you are fighting over second and third. Obviously, she will be happiest to see me."

Zwei barked and they all laughed again, continuing and escalating their friendly debate until passers-by were staring at them. And every time Weiss caught a glance of silver or green, she repressed the urge to curl in on herself.

It didn't take much longer for Ruby's train to arrive and soon they saw her jumping out of the train with a back pack and hurrying along to the ticket barriers. As she passed through she caught sight on them and went beat red as Yang held up a huge sign that said, "RUBY ROSE".

Still she soon recovered, and grinning started to run towards them.

"Moment of truth," Taiyang whispered and they all took a deep breath of anticipation.

Grinning from ear to ear, Ruby ran towards them, getting closer and closer until-

"Zwei!"

Happily, Ruby scooped up her dog as he barked happily at seeing his master and she span him around in air.

"Oh, I've missed you so much. Who's a good boy?"

Weiss, Yang and Tai all sighed as one. Of course, she would do that. With her own sly smirk, Ruby seemed to notice them and tucking Zwei under her arm gave her father a one-armed hug.

"Hey there kiddo," Tai said hugging back before frowning. "You need a haircut."

"Dad!"

Depositing Zwei into Tai's arms she turned and hugged her sister only for Yang to pick her up into a bone crushing hug.

"Yang, can't breathe."

Laughing Yang loosened her grip and the two sisters broke apart. Smiling, Ruby finally turned to Weiss looking a little more bashful than before. All thoughts of Emerald or Mercury or Cinder melted away with that look and Weiss just wanted to kiss her. She couldn't of course. It would probably embarrass her in front of her family, so it would have to wait-

And those thoughts vanished as Ruby pressed their lips together. It didn't last long, and they were both red as they pulled apart, Yang gagging and Tai looking away awkwardly.

"Hey," Ruby said. "It's good to see you."

"I know... I missed you."

They stood, smiling for a few moments happy to just be, until Yang coughed awkwardly. Weiss glared at her almost immediately and Yang raised her arms in defence.

"Hey, easy now. It's just what kinda have dinner plans..."

Right, Ruby was only back for a weekend and, so they were planning to make the most of it. Family dinner tonight that Weiss had graciously been invited to. Then a Beacon night out so she could see everyone. Only a small one though. Yang was still barred from Juniors. Recovery tomorrow and she'd probably want to see Qrow. Back to school on Sunday...

But to her girlfriend, that might as well have been a year from now. Ruby grinned, linking herself into Weiss's arm and the four of them started the walk towards the car, Zwei yipping around their legs. One small stop at home to drop off Zwei and Ruby's bags at home then onto Ruby's favourite restaurant...

Weiss would probably be able to find something that wasn't deep fried.

* * *

In the end, Weiss had to settle for a club sandwich avoiding any hot sauce with a shudder, though she did tease Yang a little, much to Tai's delight who hadn't heard the full story. Blushing a little about her humbling consequences of her defeat, Yang had also opted not to have hot sauce.

Still the mood was light and cheerful. Ruby spoke a mile a minute, talking about her new friends, flat mates and classes. It sounded incredible and even if Weiss didn't know what half the equipment Ruby was talking about, Ruby's enthusiasm made it a joy to listen to. She had a feeling some of the stories of nights out were edited for her father's benefit but still it seemed like art school was everything she had hoped it would be and more. It was amazing she had ever doubted it.

Weiss herself didn't say much, content to leave the questioning to Yang and Tai. Through her frequent talks with Ruby over phone and webcams, Weiss had heard a lot of this anyway, though she still enjoyed listening to Ruby's voice without the sound of a filter for once.

And it was all going well until Ruby accidentally knocked a glass over the table during a particularly vivid re-enactment. It shattered against the table, spilling red cherry soda across the cloth and Weiss almost jumped out her seat.

"I-I'm sorry." Three mouths opened to speak but she stood up quickly. "I need to go and get cleaned up."

The soda hadn't even spilled on her and she didn't think any of them bought her excuse, but she hurried away before they had a chance to question her. Her heart racing, she headed towards the bathroom but stopping in the hallway, just out of sight.

Letting out a muffled choked sob, Weiss bent over, trying to resist the urge to vomit. Why was this happening? Emerald hadn't even done anything. She might not do anything. Cinder and Mercury might not even be here, yet still Emerald had done this to her without even trying. She hated feeling so helpless. She wanted to scream.

"Weiss?"

She jumped again, straightening up quickly and finding Ruby staring at her, eyes filled with concern. Excuses jumped from her mind to her mouth, frantic and disorganised, and Weiss talking before she even knew what she was saying.

"Ruby, I-"

And then Ruby's arms were around her, hugging her tightly. Weiss froze, stiffening and knowing she didn't deserve this support. Emerald was her issue, her past come back to haunt her. Not Rubys burden to bear. Then she in her selfishness, she decided she didn't care and took the hug and all the love that came with.

"Talk to me Weiss," Ruby said softly, stroking her hair gently. "Tell me what's wrong?"

Breathing deeply, the smell of berries from Ruby's shampoo filled her senses, soothing her. They weren't in the restaurant anymore. The bustle of the kitchens was gone. It was just them. Taking another breath, Weiss pulled herself from Ruby's shoulder.

"Emerald came to work today."

Ruby gasped. She knew all about Emerald.

"Oh... was she alone."

And she knew all about Cinder.

Weiss nodded, quickly recounting Emeralds visit and everything she had said. Ruby's didn't say anything until she finished, just listening and occasionally nodding. It didn't take long, and Weiss felt like she was rushing through just trying to get it over with, not wanting to share this part of her life with Ruby.

As she finished, she was staring at the ground, only noticing when Ruby touched her arm gently.

"Hey it's okay Weiss. Don't worry."

"You don't know what they're like."

Ruby bit her lip before responding.

"Maybe not, but I know what you're like." Ruby smiled. "And from what you've told me. You're nothing like them. I know you think you are, but I know you're not."

Weiss could almost believe it when it was Ruby saying it. She smiled so earnestly she could convince Weiss the sun was cold. But that didn't make it right. Weiss knew what she was.

"Do you still want to go out?" Ruby asked. "I could say I'm too tired."

Instantly she shook her head.

"No, you haven't seen everyone. I don't want you to miss out at my expense."

"Are you sure? I don't mind."

"I'm sure. I don't want them to control me. They probably aren't even here. Emeralds just trying to screw with me."

"She does sound like a bitch."

"Ruby!" Weiss admonished, before letting out a giggle. "Come on, you family's probably wondering where we've gone." She paused before smirking. "Knowing Yang, she probably thinks it was a lot more exciting."

It was a poor attempt at humour, but Ruby smiled anyway. Probably just trying to make her feel better rather than actually finding it funny. Still Weiss followed Ruby back to the table, putting on a smile she hadn't used since the galas of Atlas and tried to pretend nothing was wrong.

And all while she ate, her food tasted like ash.


	39. Chapter 39

_"Take this. Suck it, don't swallow and if you aren't going to help me, leave me alone. I'm busy."_

 _"Thank you, Emmy," Weiss said, with a smirk before leaning closer so the other girl couldn't hear them. "She was in the year above us. She's vegan and loves animals, especially horses."_

 _"So, she's white? Great tip."_

 _Weiss rolled her eyes at Emeralds expected but still annoying sarcasm._

 _"She has a prettier older sister who's going to be a doctor and she's very insecure it."_

 _"And that's why we keep you around."_

 _Emerald smiled, before handing over the pill that Weiss took without thinking. Emeralds stuff was usually good. Giving Emerald a quick peck on the cheek as thanks (and because it would probably help make new girl feel worse) before swanning back across the club to find Mercury._

 _"Hey babe," she said. "You got me a drink yet?"_

 _"Sure thing Snow Angel," he said before leaning to kiss her. She pulled back and he frowned so she playfully stuck out her tongue, Emeralds pill on the tip. "You're taking that shit again."_

 _"Oh, don't be a killjoy. Emerald takes it all the time."_

 _"And Ems pathetic. You have a stud of a boyfriend and you're much hotter than she is. You don't need that shit."_

 _Giggling as the pill took affect and already slightly tipsy, Weiss leaned in to Mercury, pushing the pill to the back of her cheek for later. Their making out was rudely interrupted after a few minutes when Emerald appeared next to them, looking annoyed._

 _"You're tip sucked Schnee."_

 _"Hey."_

 _"Not Weiss's fault if you can't close Emmy. Or were all the other times her fault too?"_

 _Weiss laughed, and Emerald flipped them both off before taking a shot. It took Weiss a few moments to realise it was hers._

 _"Hey get your own Emerald."_

 _"Bite me."_

 _Dejected, Emerald ordered another drink letting Weiss wonder who's purse she had stolen this time. Em was in a foul mood after Cinder decided to back out of coming to the club at the last minute. It had been her idea as well but considering she had told them via text, it probably hadn't been her decision._

 _So Emerald has been no fun whatsoever, so Weiss and Mercury were entertaining themselves by watching her strike out repeatedly. They had a bet on how many it would be. Weiss thought four and Mercury thought eight. He was kinda a dick like that._

 _At that moment, the girl who liked horses headed back over to Emerald whose eyes lit up at the second chance._

 _"You're back. Look I'm really sorry that I-"_

 _A drink her face and Emerald jumped up in shock as Weiss and Mercury burst into laughter. A few seconds of Em failing to explain herself passed, opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish, and the pissed off looking girl rolled her eyes._

 _"My name is Cassy, not Cindy."_

 _With that she stormed off, leaving Weiss and Mercury to cackle even harder. Glaring at them, Emerald took another drink and slumped on the bar._

 _"Go screw yourselves."_

* * *

'No Safe Haven' was, according to Yang the second-best club in Vale... out of three. With Juniors not an option due to Yang being barred and the groups disgust at her treatment once they found out, it was where they had decided to meet up after Weiss, Ruby and Yang finished dinner.

Weiss made it through without further incident and beyond a quick confirmation that she was okay, Yang and Tai hadn't pushed her sudden ten-minute vanishing act. Ruby vouching for her had probably helped. So, after they finished eating, Tai dropped them off and told them to have a good night.

"Ruby!" A red-faced Nora shouted upon seeing them, instantly grabbing her in a crushing hug. "Oh, it's been so long. I've missed you so much. You've gotten so big!"

"She's the same size Nora," Yang said amused. "I see you guys didn't wait for us?"

"Weiss- help. Can't breathe."

With a slight smile, Weiss pried Nora and Ruby apart, the latter pouting and clearly quite drunk already. In fact, the whole group seemed to have hit it pretty hard, even Blake and Sun who normally took it easy. Blake was even bobbing her hips to the music as she had met them. She smiled goofily at Weiss and Yang, swaying with the music.

"I used to be quite the rebel you know..."

"That's... nice," Yang said, before sighing and turning to Weiss. "I'm going to grab a dri-" She corrected herself. "Soda. You wanting an actual drink?"

Weiss shook her head.

"Not tonight."

"Nice, joining me on babysitting duty. What's you're excuse?"

She shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant.

"I just don't feel like it tonight."

Yang didn't seem convinced but once again let it slide, leaving Weiss and heading to the bar. Weiss turned back to the group, with Ruby in a conversation with the rest of them. She swallowed, suddenly feel like there was hundred people between. It was both crushing and somehow, she felt isolated.

Shuddering, she quickly pushed her way forward and linked her hand with Ruby's. They weren't here, she told herself. You're being stupid. Ruby paused mid-sentence giving her a questioning glance, but Weiss just smiled.

* * *

An hour later and Weiss was understanding why you had to drink at clubs. It was really loud and crap otherwise. The others were all fine, having played a new drinking game before coming out and then realising they had gotten the rules wrong. Needless to say, they were all in a good mood.

In a way it was good. They were all having a great time and even Pyrrha and Jaunes awkwardness seemed to finally be gone. Time healed all wounds and Nora was currently making it her mission to wingman the taller redhead in her search for love. Amazingly, Pyrrha actually seemed receptive to the idea. She'd even let Nora talk her into wearing one of her more scandalous outfits.

Well scandalous for Pyrrha anyway.

Blake was currently telling a story to Yang about how she had once set her house on fire. Somehow the way she told it made it seem like it wasn't an accident. It was kinda disturbing yet fascinating to just hear the snippets every now and again. Everyone was mingling, and everyone was having fun.

And Weiss couldn't help just getting out her scroll, and checking the time, hoping that they would be able to go soon. But no, it was still an hour to go at least.

With a triumphant laugh, Nora flopped down next to Weiss startling her.

"Hah, mission accomplished."

"And what mission would that be?" Weiss said, grateful Nora hadn't noticed her jump. "And where's Pyrrha?"

"That's the mission, obviously. Pyrrhas at the bar." She smiled gleefully. "With a guy. A hot one"

Weiss raised her eyebrow, her worry's temporarily forgotten. Next to them, Ren decided to slide in to assess the damage.

"Nora..."

"What, I said a guy, not an octopus? Come on let her have some fun."

"Hmm..."

"Don't get judgy with me," Nora said, poking Ren in the chest. "If I remember rightly, you've had your fair share of one-night stands, lover boy."

Weiss blinked. The idea of playboy Ren was failing to compute with her despite the fact everyone was taking it in stride. Ren smiled at Nora and suddenly Weiss was a third wheel as the latter started to giggle.

"And then I found a relationship far more fulfilling."

"Well, yeah but it can still be fun and besides it's a learning experience."

"Learning experience?" Weiss asked.

Nora shrugged, taking a drink.

"How do you know what's good if you don't sample the buffet?"

"Oh god."

Nora cackled slapping her leg, as Ren and Weiss shook their heads, more amused than anything else.

"Oh, come on, get those sticks out your butts. Besides he was really hot. How many guys do you see with silver hair?"

Weiss felt her heart stop.

"What?"

"Yeah silver hair. You'd think it would make him look old but-"

Weiss was already on her feet, pushing past the crowds and she hurried towards the bar. Vaguely she heard someone shout her name, but it didn't register properly, too focused was she on finding Pyrrha.

It felt like the club was working against her. Gaps vanishing as groups consolidated together to block her path. People dancing pushed into her, knocking her back and forth, yelling inaudible insults at her over the pounding music as she tried to shove her way through.

Finally, she was able to break through and her eyes darted up and down the bar, desperately hoping she both would and wouldn't see them. Someone bumping into the back of her and knocking her forward and as she did, she saw them.

Mercury with his arm around Pyrrha.

They were across the bar, Pyrrhas back to Weiss. She looked so relaxed, laughing at a joke Mercury had just told. He was smirking, of course he was. God, she used to think that was charming, before she learned she was the joke. It made her shudder just to think about how she had been taken in so easily. She should have known better, she had known him.

As she stood there frozen, he turned, his eyes catching hers. There was a moment of recognition and familiarity, then amusement. He turned back to Pyrrha, his arm slinking lower and then he kissed her. His eyes never left Weiss the entire time.

"Wow," Emeralds voice said in her ear. "She's even easier than you were."

Weiss turned around to face the green haired girl, fury consuming her, so much so that she couldn't even speak. Emerald just smiled, a beer in one hand and dressed for a club. She held up her scroll, raising up her eyebrow in mock amazement.

"Amazing what people will post online nowadays. Don't they know the dangers?" she said casually before laughing. "Damn I was wrong, Wonder Woman over there has better standards than you."

Whipping round again, Weiss could see that Pyrrha had pulled away, blushing but still talking away, oblivious to what had just happened. Not realising she was just being used for this sick game. She didn't deserve this. This was all Weiss's fault.

Ignoring Emeralds smug grin, Weiss pushed her way around the bar, not even trying to be polite as patrons swore at her. She didn't care. Trying not to let her anger affect her too much, she grabbed Pyrrhas arms, who turned around surprised and embarrassed.

"Weiss, what are you-"

"Pyrrha, we need to go."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, but he's- he's not what you think?"

Still confused, Pyrrha opened her mouth to reply only for Mercury to lean over, a look of mock offence on his face.

"What not even a hello Snow Angel? I'm hurt. We used to be so close."

"Don't you dare call me that!"

"Snow Angel? Weiss, you know him..." Realisation dawned on Pyrrha as she went pale. "This was all for her..."

The embarrassment on her face sunk into a look of sad, resigned shame. The normally so tall woman, practically curled into herself, her shoulders sinking. She glanced down at her dress, before quickly standing up and hurrying away.

"Excuse me."

"Pyrrha, I -"

But she was already gone. Looking around, Weiss could see Jaune heading after her, Ren and Nora following quickly after. There was glare on Ren's face she has never seen before and Nora's face was a mix of concern and anger, but Weiss could see the part of her in her eyes that wrongly blamed herself instead of Weiss.

Everyone had followed after Weiss it seemed. Her abrupt exit along with her strange actions all day making them worry. Weiss felt Ruby's hand slip into hers, squeezing it in an attempt at comfort but to no avail. It was a gesture that didn't go unnoticed though as Mercury laughed.

"Damn Emerald was right, who would have thought it?"

"Probably dating you that did it," Emerald said, casually. "Just being near you made me never want to date guys."

"Don't see then point if you can't get the best? I get it."

"Asshole."

"Dyke."

"I don't know who you guys are, but you really need to back off," Sun said, as stepped in front of Weiss. She'd never seen him look so angry.

"Or what Monkey boy." Mercury said. "You think your man enough."

"More than you are dick," Yang said. "You don't get to mess with our friends."

"Really all this. For Weiss? " Emerald said, sliding next to Mercury. "Is she really worth it?"

 _No..._

"One last chance. Leave."

Mercury and Emerald just stood there, giving each other an amused glance. A circle of clubgoers had formed around the group, eager to see what was going to happen but it didn't look like anyone was coming to stop it. There were no bouncers and the bar staff were missing.

Maybe they had gone to get them, maybe this type of thing was just common, and they preferred to just let them fight it out and kick them out rather than risk themselves. It was stupid and dangerous but easier. By then it would be too late.

And then everyone moved.

Sun and Yang jumped forward, Sun a little faster but Mercury was quicker still. As Sun stepped forward, Mercury lashed out with a savage kick to his knee that dropped him down on the other. There was no time for a follow up as Yang forced him to duck under a swing and he side stepped around and shoved her into the bar where she let out a curse of pain.

Beside her, Blake was moving towards Emerald as the green haired smirked, but stepped back. Weiss felt a tug on her hand, but she selfishly pulled Ruby closer, not wanting her involved in this fight. Not wanting her hurt, she could barely hear Ruby saying that she needed to help them. She just held on tight and didn't let go, her eyes still fixed on Mercury.

Yang was back on her feet and tackled Mercury into a table booth. Grunting in pain, he elbowed her in the back, but she didn't let go. Taking his chance, Sun rushed forward, only for Mercury to pick up a glass and throw it. It struck Suns cheek with a horrible thud and he fell back as Weiss let out a shriek for them to stop.

Everyone was getting hurt and it was all her fault. She had brought Emerald and Mercury into their lives. They were reason Pyrrha had been humiliated and used just to get to her. Why Sun and Yang were fighting? She could even see where Blake was but didn't want to think about what Emerald might be doing to her.

Mercury hadn't managed to loosen Yang and brought his knee up into her stomach, knocking the wind from her. Lying back on the booth, he kicked upwards into her chin, and she went sprawling onto the floor where she lay groaning.

Grimacing, he stood up and Weiss could see he was bleeding from a cut on his lip. He walked forward towards Yang, placing one foot onto her elbow firmly to hold her in place. Her arm lay exposed and Weiss could only stand there frozen as he raised his foot high and -

"Let her go!"

Everyone stopped at the sound of Blake's voice. She hadn't even shouted, her. Her voice had just carried. Mercury paused and turned to where Blake stood and for the first time that night, he actually looked shocked.

Emerald was bent over a table, her face pushed into a pile of spilt drinks and held in place by Blake's hand, pressed roughly against her cheek on the shaved side of her head. With her other hand, Blake had pulled Emeralds arm up and back at an unnatural angle, that caused Emerald pain anytime either one moved.

"Let her go," Blake repeated coldly, forcing another cry from Emerald as emphasis. "Now!"

There was silence again. The music had stopped playing and all the onlookers had gotten quiet all waiting to see what would happen next. Mercury paused for a moment, looking down at Yang before back at Blake.

"You first," he said.

"Dammit Mercury," Emerald snapped. "Just let her go, for the love- ahh"

She let out another cry that whimpered out as Blake pushed her arm to breaking point. It was lucky she was flexible or else it would probably have snapped already. And yet still Mercury hadn't moved, and then-

"Enough Mercury," Cinders voice said from behind Weiss. "Let her up."

Weiss stiffened as Cinder slowly brushed past her. Blue eyes met golden as Cinder passed her, smiling as she did so. Her hand lingered slightly on Weiss's arm before moving on to join the others.

Yang stood back up as Mercury stood back from her. Rubbing her arm in pain, she offered her other to Sun. The two of them joined Weiss leaving Blake still holding Emerald against the table.

"And if you don't mind Weiss," Cinder said. "Can you tell your pet to let go of Emerald. I'd hate for her to leave a mark."

Blake glared at her but acquiesced, pushing Emerald from the table where she sprawled to the ground at Cinders feet. Weiss saw her shrivel under Cinders disgusted look and almost felt bad for her.

Almost.

As Emerald stood back up ashamed, Cinder smiled over to Weiss again.

"I must say Weiss, I'm so sorry things escalated like this."

"Yeah you seem really cut up about it," Yang muttered.

"Why don't you keep your mouth shut."

"Mercury, quiet," Cinder snapped. "I told you both to stay out of trouble."

"I'm sorry Cinder," Emerald said weakly. "We just though-"

"Shut up."

Emerald folded instantly.

"What are you doing here Cinder," Weiss said, finally finding her voice. "Why now?"

"We just had to stop by after Emerald told us you were here. You should have said something. Daddy dearest told everyone that you'd gone travelling for a while. To think you're serving ice cream on the beach front."

Cinder laughed to herself as Mercury smirked, but Weiss was stuck on her first words. Her father had told everyone she was traveling... No one in Atlas knew she had left him, or why. He must have been trying to protect his stocks and considering he hadn't had to contact her, it must have been working.

It didn't matter she was gone.

"What's so funny," Ruby said. "Is working for a living so ridiculous a concept to you people?"

"And you must be Ruby Rose, the art student." Cinder smiled. "Weiss's new girl. I must admit, I'm surprised."

"That her taste improved so much," Yang said.

Cinder ignored her, golden eyes never leaving Weiss for a second, boring into her and scrutinising her every move. Weiss was being analysed, probed for any reaction or weakness that Cinder could use to destroy her.

"You all seem very well informed," she said. "It's so nice that Weiss talks so often about her old friends."

"She's told us all about you," Ruby snapped back. "You weren't her friends."

"Is that what she told you?" Mercury chuckled. "Snow Angel... playing the victim? That's beneath you."

"Don't call her that!"

"Why do you use it too? She did love it."

"Mercury, what did I say?"

The boy rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything more and Cinders irritated glare morphed back into a smile. Her eyes flickered to the side before flickering back to Weiss.

"Well it's been lovely to see you again Weiss. We should talk again soon. Maybe we'll run into each other soon, but it seems you're fighting drew some attention after all."

Weiss looked over to see bouncers finally heading over, one of the bar staff pointing in their direction. With the fight over, there was no risk of collateral while kicking them out and they must have wanted to do it quickly before anything started up again.

"Stay away from Weiss," Ruby said with a scowl. "You aren't wanted here."

"That's not your call little Rose. Weiss is a big independent girl now. She can make her own decisions." Cinder smiled as Emerald and Mercury started to walk away. "We'll be seeing you very soon Weiss."

And with that they slid into the crowd and before long, vanished from sight. With the show over, the crowd was dispersing, not wanting to get caught up in the bouncers clearing house. Weiss was still staring at where Cinder had been standing but suddenly felt Ruby tugging her arm.

"Come on Weiss," she said. "We need to go."

Nodding wordlessly, she let Ruby drag her away. Pushing through the crowd they were soon able to leave the club, quickly focusing on finding a taxi and getting home. Yang was trying to phone Pyrrha but wasn't having much luck. Blake and Sun left quickly, Blake worried about the cut on Suns face where the bottle had hit him.

And it was all Weiss's fault.

Sighing, Yang gave up, resorting to just a mass text and joined Weiss and Ruby in the taxi queue. Leaning against the wall, she pulled her arms behind her head and winced in pain.

"We should stop going to clubs."

* * *

Weiss sat in her pyjamas on Ruby's bed. She barely remembered getting back to Ruby's house or being taken upstairs while Yang explained to her father why she looked beaten black and blue. Weiss had a brief flash of Yang leaning against the counter, wincing as she held frozen peas to her head.

Then she remembered the glass impacting Suns face after he tried to defend her. The look on Pyrrhas after she put herself out there and was played with, all for Weiss's benefit. She could hear every one of their vicious barbs and insults trying to hurt her friends, all because of Weiss.

She pulled her legs up to her chin, hugging herself as she rocked on the bed. It was all her fault. She didn't deserve her friends, this life. She was a Schnee, she had revelled in that. Loved it and used it when she could. To think she could have a clean break and give it all up was arrogance. The most she had ever suffered from was boredom and-

Rubys arms slid around her, pulling Weiss back into her like a warm cocoon. She enveloped Weiss in the hug of her arms and legs, resting Weiss's head on her shoulder and started to hum.

It was a gentle tune, a comforting lullaby but not one that Weiss recognised. Ruby didn't have the perfect voice. She didn't have Weiss's training, the best vocal training money could buy but to Weiss right there, in that's that moment, it was everything.

Soothing, comforting, quiet and warm. Weiss lay there in Ruby's arm, just listening to Ruby hum to her, not saying anything at all until the last note faded into the night. They say there together in the dark for a few minutes, Weiss just listening to Ruby's breath on her neck.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For being here. For not giving up on me."

"Never," Ruby replied. "Are you okay?"

"No, Weiss said without a trace of a lie. "I'm angry."


	40. Chapter 40

It looked like a normal day at Beacon. If you had been a customer, you probably wouldn't have noticed much of a difference. Maybe the staff looked a little tired, their movements sluggish but service was still good, as it always was. Regular patrons would chalk it up to the staff probably having a work night out or something of the sort and all of them feeling a little rough as a result.

But for Weiss, the tension hung over her workplace like a dark cloud. Yang had to swap shifts with Blake, her arm still too bruised and sore from the fight to work today. It would be fine, she had said but Taiyang insisted she take it off. Ruby had swapped with Pyrrha, who had also claimed to be fine but Jaune and Nora had been less sure.

Weiss was grateful for the changes. She still felt guilty for what had happened and didn't want Pyrrha around Mercury ever again. With Yang, she didn't want another fight or anyone else to get hurt.

And although it didn't feel right to say about any of her friends, Weiss was glad it was Ruby and Blake with her. Ruby made her feel safer, more confident and secure. With her girlfriend around, Cinder didn't feel so dangerous. As for Blake, after last night, Weiss was pretty certain that if a fight did break out again, Blake could look after herself.

A customer thanked her for a coffee and left after Weiss managed a small forced smile as thanks for the tip. The door closed, and Weiss slumped, her energy low. Not for the first time that day, she considered grabbing another coffee herself but decided against it. Getting hopped up on caffeine wasn't a good idea. She needed to be focused for when Cinder got here.

Because at this point, Weiss knew it wasn't an if, it was a when. Cinder had told her she would come, and Cinder didn't make idle threats. To do so would make her seem weak and if there was one thing Cinder couldn't stand, it was appearing weak.

But still the time ticked on and with every second, Weiss felt herself losing her nerve. What if she was wrong? What if Cinder didn't come today? What if she had something else planned and-

Rubys hand slipped into hers, giving her a comforting squeeze and Weiss felt her heart began to slow, once again.

"You don't have to do this," Ruby said softly. "We could just call the police if they try anything again."

Weiss smiled at her, squeezing the hand back before letting go and getting to work wiping down the counter. It was a counter she had wiped four times already.

"I could... but I can't. I need to face her Ruby. I know it sounds stupid but after everything she did, I can't just run away."

"It's not running away."

"It is. I can't let something like last night happen again."

"That wasn't your fault."

"I know," Weiss agreed. "It was Cinders, but she'll do it again. I know she will"

Ruby bit her lip but nodded. Smiling, Weiss stepped forward and kissed her forehead. It was for her own benefit as much as it was for Ruby's but her girlfriend didn't need to know that.

"Don't worry," she said. "I know what I'm doing."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Managing a smile, Ruby nodded again, more firmly this time. Ruby trusted Weiss and Weiss hoped desperately that she wouldn't end up breaking that trust. She looked away and focused on getting on with her work.

* * *

They arrived a little after noon. Emerald first, holding the door for Cinder. She looked more sullen and downcast than she had yesterday. Her attempts at pleasing Cinder had failed and now she was paying the price, likely taking the brunt of Cinders anger or at least, taking it worse. Now in daylight, Weiss could see that her face was slightly bruised from her fight with Blake. Glancing back at Blake, Weiss saw her friend didn't have a scratch.

Mercury on the other hand, looked as cocky as ever. If Cinder had been angry at him he wasn't showing it. Even with the few scars he had picked up, he swaggered after Emerald without a care in the world, even shooting Weiss a wink, as their eyes met, that made her shudder.

And then finally Cinder herself entered, sauntering in behind her lackeys and smiling a thank you to Emerald that kept her on the leash for a little longer. Her heels clicked loudly on tiled floor, turning heads of everyone there, who would then stop and stare for her superficial beauty, unable to see the ugliness underneath.

It was what Cinder wanted. What she always wanted. She wanted-No, she _needed_ to be desired or to be feared. For people to stare at her in awe. Everything decision she made, the clothes she wore, the way she walked and the way she stood, all of it was planned and calculated with this need for attention in mind.

Weiss hadn't moved yet, still trying to psyche herself up for when came over, but she wasn't the only one to notice them. Blake was already heading towards them, fire in her eyes.

"Get out," she said, without hesitation. "You aren't wanted here."

Cinders eyes darted up to the bow on Blakes head and smiled like they were old friends.

"Now now kitten, is that anyway to talk to a potential customer? Besides I would very much like to continue my talk with Weiss."

"Tough."

"Blake," Weiss said quietly. "It's okay. I can handle this."

"You see kitten, we're all friends here."

Blake glared at Cinder for the continued use of kitten but calmed herself, respecting Weiss decision. Still though she hesitated, not wanting to leave Weiss alone with them. After last night she couldn't blame her. Cinder however just raised her eyebrow expectantly.

"Yes?"

"Customers only."

"Really." Cinder rolled her eyes. "Surprise me. One of you pay for it."

Mercury was faster, following after Cinder.

"Emerald."

The mint haired girl glared at him before stomping over to the counter, muttering under her breath. Blake gave Weiss a nod and headed back to wait for her. Swallowing and steeling herself for what was to come, Weiss walked over to her old friends, sitting down opposite them.

They sat in silence, punctuated only by the sound of a blender until Emerald joined them squeezing in next to Cinder with a milkshake. Mercury raised an eyebrow at her, but she just shrugged.

"It's not bad."

Cinder rolled her eyes for a moment before fixing her gaze back onto Weiss and smiling. Weiss swallowed, her hands fidgeting underneath the table, but she met Cinders eyes and didn't look away.

"What are you doing here Weiss," Cinder said, sympathetically. "You're a Schnee, an Atlesian. Yet here you are, spending your days toiling away behind a counter, scooping ice cream, wiping tables and mopping floors."

"This isn't you, is it? Hanging around with these degenerates, is that really how you thought you would spend your life? I mean understand, they make you feel good about yourself. Your cute little squeeze probably tries really hard to please you and she'll let you do anything you want because you both know that it can't last..."

Flicking her dark hair out of her eyes, Cinder leaned forward, her eyes practically glowing with concern and support. Weiss said nothing.

"But why keep pretending? Why not just accept who you are and come back to Atlas with us?"

"What!" Weiss said as Emerald almost chocked.

"What?"

Irritation flickered in Cinders eyes at Emerald outburst, but she let it go to focus back onto Weiss.

"I admit Weiss, we treated you badly at the end. We took you for granted and thought you had nothing to offer. But we were wrong, and we can do so much for each other. For what it's worth Weiss, I am truly sorry."

"Come with us and we can have some real fun again. We can party, travel, do whatever we want. No one can tell us no. Your father kicked you out and betrayed you. Get back at him. Invest in his competitors and then tell your story. Sink his shares and you'll be set for life, not this..." Cinder waved her hand casually. "Well..."

"So, what do you say Weiss? Forgive and forget. Come back home and take what you want from life instead of wasting yours here."

There was a long pause as Cinder finished her offer. She leaned back in the booth smugly, either ignorant or uncaring to Emeralds shock, making Weiss wonder what Emerald thought they were coming here today for. The mint milkshake sat forgotten in front of her.

Mercury seemed slightly more filled in than Emerald had been, smirking at Weiss and giving her a wink. More than once his eyes during Cinders speech had flickered to her chest, mentally undressing her.

Weiss swallowed. Cinders offer had caught her off guard, she had expected insults and mockery, Cinder trying to make her feel like shit by shoving her face into how far she had fallen. The idea of a second chance with them. To go back to Atlas with them was- it was...

"Are you done?" she said coldly.

It was laughable.

Cinder blinked, her smile frozen on her face for a moment, not sure how to proceed with this answer. Weiss just smiled herself, for the first time since sitting down. A condensing smile she kept for assholes who didn't realise that she was out of their league.

"I mean really? Did you practice that speech in front of the mirror? What was that? Was that meant to work, to make me forget everything you've done. That was pathetic."

Cinder mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, her carefully thought out plan far away as everything went off the rails. To cover she coughed and tried to regain control.

"I don't think you quite understand Weiss. You see-"

"No, you don't understand Cinder. We aren't in high school anymore. You aren't some impressive gang leader or the queen bee of anything. You're just three sad, pathetic bullies who don't know what they're doing." Weiss snorted. "You find out I'm here and you drop everything to come torment me. For what? Just to trick me into going with you. If you're wanting to make a quick buck off stocks, then you might as well forget it. You really aren't clever enough for that."

Weiss stood up staring down at the three dumbfounded faces, squished together into a booth that could only hold two. She looked at them and saw them properly for the first time and wondered why on Earth, she had ever been afraid of them.

"Get out and if you come near me or my friends ever again, I'll call the police." She turned to leave but paused. "Good bye Cinder. Thank you for reminding me how much better I have it now."

Cinder finally seemed to recover, her mouth twisting into an ugly scowl. She stood up quickly, leaning closer to an unflinching Weiss, trying to intimidate her.

"While you were with Mercury," she hissed. "I was fucking him the entire time. We would laugh about it. Anything you ever told him or showed him, he told me. You were just our toy, a plaything."

But Weiss just stared back at her unfazed.

"I don't care Cinder. Now get the hell out of my life."

For a minute, the two woman stared at each other, a fiery fury versus cold indifference. And then gesturing harshly for her lackeys to follow, Cinder stormed out of the cafe.

Weiss stood waiting to make sure they were gone before collapsing into the booth, releasing a shaky breath she hadn't realised she had been holding. Her heart pounded in her chest so loudly it seemed amazing that Cinder hadn't heard it.

But she had done it. She had stood her ground and gotten rid of them for good. Weiss could feel it, like a weight lifted off her shoulders. A weight she didn't know she had been carrying. It had taken her all this time to accept it, but she wasn't like them. Even back then, she had never been one of them.

An excited squeak pierced the air and Weiss barely had time to react before Ruby slammed her into a bone crushing hug. Weiss laughed at the ecstasy that filled her, returning the hug and kissing her girlfriend with joy.

"That was amazing," Ruby gushed. "The look on her face. She didn't know what hit her."

"It feels good doesn't it," Blake said, though Weiss hadn't notice her walk over. "To tell them how you really feel and watch them realise they don't control you anymore."

Weiss nodded, not knowing how Blake knew but knowing it wasn't the time to wondered who it had been for Blake and when she had been able to finally cast them aside. It explained why Blake seemed so strong now. After talking to Cinder, Weiss felt like she could take on the world.

"Still though," Blake said, coyly. "It's a shame they left their drink behind."

Weiss's brow furrowed and glanced at Ruby who looked equally confused. What the hell was Blake talking about? So what Emerald had left the milkshake?

"Uhh Blake are you okay?"

"I just really think you should give it to her. Like when we argued, and you gave it to me because I deserved it." Blake gestured casually to the cup. "Seems like you owe it to yourself to just really give it to her."

Understanding dawned on Weiss and a grin lit up on her face just imagining the moment and how Cinder would react. It would be immature, childish, stupid and so, so worth it. Just for that look on her face.

Sliding a still slightly confused Ruby off her lap, Weiss pecked her on the forehead, promising to be back soon. Sharing a determined look with Blake she picked up Emeralds abandoned milkshake and ran out of the door.

Luck was on her side and Weiss was able to find them quickly, finding them standing next to a large fountain that had been built to commemorate the first Vytal festival. At least according to Ruby anyway. Weiss had only been half listening too distracted by Rubys... well just Ruby really.

Her heart beat faster as she approached the group. Cinder was irritated and venting quietly to the others, not wanting anyone passing to notice. That would break the illusion of the effortlessly beautiful femme fatale she so desperately wanted to be.

Emerald noticed her first as she approached, eyes widening in surprise and quickly saying something to Cinder. Cinder turned to her, a casual smirk masking her own surprise. She opened her mouth to say something cruel or mocking but Weiss beat her to it.

"You forgot this."

And with that, Weiss threw the contents of the cup at Cinders face.

All composure failed Cinder in an instant, and she threw up her hands to shield but too slowly and in the moment of impact, Weiss was very happy that Emerald had chosen mint flavour. The pale green icy cold liquid splattered against Cinders face and she let out a squeal, flailing backwards as though that would mean that this hadn't happened.

Unfortunately for Cinder, she had forgotten about the fountain. Her immensely impractical high heels failed to find any purchase on the wet ground and for a second Weiss saw Cinders eyes panic before she tipped backwards, her hands grasping at nothing .

 ** _Splash_**

"Cinder!"

Emerald rushed forward to the edge of the fountain but hesitated on the edge. It had probably occurred to her that Cinder was more likely to drag her down with her than be grateful for the help.

Mercury on the other hand, hadn't moved an inch to help, laughing openly at Cinders misfortune. That stopped though as he felt Weiss's hand trail up his arm and rest comfortably on his shoulder. Weiss smiled at him, moving her hand onto the other shoulder. He smirked at her, in his head still thinking she was into him and Weiss just smiled before kneeing him as hard as she could in the groin.

His face contorted in shock and Mercury collapsed in a pathetic heap on the ground, groaning in pain. Weiss looked down at him and smirked.

"That was for Pyrrha."

"Weiss!"

The triumphant heiress turned around to see Cinder trying to stand in the fountain, only for her heel to snap and topple her backward on her ass with another splash. Passers-by had stopped, staring at the spectacle. A group of kids who looked like they were on a class trip were pointing and there was the flash of scrolls.

Cinder looked around frantically, her face beat red in humiliation but her frantic shaking of her head only caused her green milkshakey hair to splattered into her face, sticking like a slimy weed.

It was what Cinder wanted. What she always wanted. She wanted-No, she _needed_ to be desired, to be feared. For people to stare at her in awe. Everything decision she made, the clothes she wore, the way she walked and the way she stood, all of it was planned and calculated with this need for attention in mind.

Well she had attention now. Her glossy immaculate hair she loved so much was dripping in mint ice cream and water. Her wonderful clothes were soaked and ruined while her graceful posture and poise had been reduced to her sitting in an fountain like a small toddler.

Cinder wanted to be strong, feared and powerful.

And now, children were laughing at her.

Weiss joined them, giggling at Cinder's fall even as she seethed. And then with one final wave, Weiss turned and walked away from the group. Emerald floundering and unsure of what to do, Mercury still on the ground in some very appropriate pain and Cinder sitting in a fountain screaming at her.

"You'll pay for this Weiss," Cinder screeched, her voice high and shrill. "You'll pay for this!"

But Weiss was pretty sure that she payed for this moment, well in advance.


	41. Chapter 41

_The Schnee Dust Company shares have dropped yet again, following the burning of one of their warehouses, late last night. The police have not released any details but are urging anyone who may have witnessed the event to come forward._

 _Despite the lack of official information, officials are speculating that the attack was undertaken by the Faunus terrorist group, The White Fang and that-_

Blake flicked off the radio with a huff of annoyance. Weiss watched her as Blake gripped the wheel of her car more tightly, focusing on the road and continued to drive. Weiss couldn't blame her really. The White Fang were an awful organisation and no doubt Blake hated the reputation they forced on the Faunus.

Riding shotgun, Yang gave her friend a confused look but didn't push it, just switching the radio to a lighter channel and filling the car with music. It broke the tension a least and the awkward moment was soon forgotten as Weiss enquired about their destination.

"So, what can you tell me about Patch."

Yang replied quickly, with the insightfulness that Weiss can come to expect of her friend.

"Ehh you know." There was a small moment of pause before Yang realised Weiss was still waiting. "It's nice."

"Thank you, Yang. That's very helpful."

"What?" The blonde shrugged. "It's just a city. It's pretty and has a lot of woods but that's about it."

"Well Ruby seems to like it."

"That's probably because she finally got away from her family," Blake teased. "That's a good feeling."

"Hey!"

As a gesture of protest, Yang drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around them, sticking out her tongue. Blake frowned, lightly smacking them back down.

"Feet off the dash."

"Hey!"

Weiss tittered lightly but wasn't yet satisfied. Ruby had talked a lot about how much she's liked Patch... then again that had mostly been about her new friends and her classes. The backdrop to a lot of her pieces did have a lot more trees than they used to.

Well either way. Weiss was sure that Ruby would be able to entertain them. Or her anyway. Blake And Yang weren't staying long. Ruby had a few more things that were too heavy for her to bring up herself and so Blake had offered to drive up some stuff. Yang had decided to keep her company and see her sisters place at the same time.

And after she had found out, Weiss had decided that she was going up to... and not at all because she was feeling left out. Still it would be nice to spend some more time with Ruby. Her last visit a weeks ago had been sullied somewhat even after her triumph and Weiss was hoping for a nice peaceful time with her girlfriend.

* * *

"Weiss hurry up and knock," Yang grunted. "This is really heavy."

"I just did."

"That was a knock? It looked you were rubbing it. Put your back into it."

Weiss scowled at her, but Blake grinned despite how she wasn't struggling as much as Yang.

"It's because she's trying to be dainty."

"Blake!"

"Well?"

"..."

There was a beat of silence before Yang groaned again, shifting her weight as she stood on the stairs.

"Oh my god, Blake and I are carrying a wardrobe, Weiss. Knock on the door."

"There's a bell."

"Then ring the damn bell."

"I'm doing it, jeez."

"You are such a princess."

"Heiress actually," Weiss said but rang the bell.

 _Ding Dong_

There was a few seconds of silence and Weiss heard a yell that someone needed to get the door. Nothing happened for about a minute and the girl she looked at each other before hearing the sound of stomping. The door swung open revealing a rather irritated looking girl wearing a blue beret.

The three girls blinked as she stared at them like they were dressed like clowns and that at any moment she would be dragged into some slapstick routine. Behind her, Weiss heard Yang shift her weight awkwardly. Then the girl sighed.

"You must be Ruby's friends." It was the same voice that had yelled. "She said you were coming..."

She still hadn't invited them in.

"Umm yeah," Yang said. "I'm Yang, Ruby's sister."

"Blake."

"And I'm Weiss. Her girlfriend."

"Hmm," the girl said contemplating this additional information. "I thought you'd be taller."

Blake and Yang snorted until Weiss turned and glared at them. Yang shrugged, which was actually kind of impressive considering she was holding a wardrobe, but it shifted all the weight to Blake for a moment who almost dropped it. Thankfully, Weiss was spared the awkwardness of having to yell at Ruby's roommate as Ruby finally appeared, skidding to halt in front of the door with a grin of her face.

"You're here! Why are you just standing there, come on in?"

Weiss smiled reflexively only for that smile to drop as Ruby waved them in, before turning groaning at Ciel. Ciel just folded her arms. Tired of holding the heavy furniture, Blake and Yang pushed past Weiss to get into the room, sighing in relief when the put it down.

"Ciellll," Ruby moaned. "Why didn't you bring them in."

"None of you ever get the door even when you know it's for you."

"Yeah but sometimes you're in the lounge..."

"My room is the furthest away!"

"Yeah well... umm." Ruby grinned, scratching her head awkwardly. "We appreciate it?"

"You know it C," one of Ruby's other roommates said, clapping her hands on Ciel's shoulders. "Hey, I'm Dew, nice to meet you. I think Nebs in the shower, but I think the other two are still out."

"Still!"

"Ciel if you didn't want Neb to spend all day in the shower, you shouldn't have gotten her drunk and trapped her in a snare."

"I didn't, you did!" Ciel glared. "In my room."

"Is this what we look like from the outside," Blake whispered as the three girls watched the argument continue.

"Nah," Yang said. "I would have used pitfall trap."

"Oh, that makes sense," Weiss said sarcastically.

"Oh, that makes sense," Ciel muttered.

Weiss didn't bother to check if Blake and Yang were staring at her. It was very apparent that they were. What Weiss was staring at was Ruby and not in her normal way. She was staring at how Ruby was pouting and telling Ciel to lighten up a little and that she knows Ciel thought it was funny when Nebula had been upside down.

"Okay fine," Ciel said with a role of her eyes. "But can you at least do your dishes Dew."

"I don't have dishes."

There was a pause as Ciel stared down Dews terrible poker face.

"I'm helping Nebula with her payback plan," she turned back to the others. "It was nice meeting you all."

"Wait Neb has a plan? What plan? C, come on. Help a sister out. Heh heh."

But Ciel was already sauntering smugly away with Dew hot on her tail, desperately trying to bargain or convince her. There was something about making waffles every week for her.

There was a brief pause as all of them turned towards Ruby who was grinning, oblivious to how ridiculous this situation was. She sighed happily before turning back to them.

"Yeah my room mates are pretty awesome."

"Does Nebula have a plan?" Blake asked. "Or is Ciel just messing with her?"

"Last I heard Neb was wanting to throw a bucket of Mountain Dew over her while she slept and shout 'Morning Dew'."

"I would have gone with 'Do the Dew'." Yang laughed. "So, you're just wanting the wardrobe here in the middle of the hallway, right?"

* * *

After half an hour of struggling, the four girls managed to somehow get Ruby's wardrobe down the hallway and into her room. It was gruelling work and Weiss was amazed she was able to direct them so efficiently in a place she'd never been too.

Yang groaned, collapsing onto the bed and running her sore arms. Blake sat next to her, smirking but still obviously strained. After a minute of recovery, Yang glared over to Weiss who had sat down in Ruby's desk chair.

"Weiss, you suck."

"What?"

"You were literally no help at all."

"I directed you and I opened the door." Weiss scoffed. "If that's no help at all then you clearly have to support for the chain of command."

Yang continued to grumble on the bed, threatening to go grab Dews snare. Blake patted her head sympathetically more amused than anything else.

"So," Ruby said, bouncing onto Weiss's lap and startling her. "I'm thinking that after Blake and Yang leave, me and you-"

"You and I."

"Weissssss."

"It's basic grammar."

"Ugh, you sound like Ciel."

Weiss went a little red, but Ruby didn't seem to notice.

"So anyway, you and I can get some pizza and chill... or something." Yang was suddenly very interested in Ruby's curtains. "What do you think?"

"Hmm... yeah sounds good."

Ruby blinked, her face frozen on her smile for a moment before just grinning again.

"Great, so you guys wanna hang out in the lounge. There's more room than all of us in bed together."

"Hot," Dew said as she passed by. "Let me know if someone needs to tag out."

"Dew my sisters here!"

"So, what, Blake's fair game?" Yang said, with a raised eyebrow.

"Let me just check if Suns cool with this."

"Blake, why are you texting?" Ruby said. "Why are you texting?"

With a panicked squeak, Ruby leapt from Weiss's lap and onto the bed scrambling to grab the phone from Blake. It was cute really. Blake managing to effortlessly keep her phone out of Ruby's reach while Yang just laughed.

Weiss just folded her arms and crossed her legs before muttering under her breath.

"Maybe we should ask Ciel."

* * *

Ruby was right, the lounge was substantially bigger than her room. That wasn't particularly difficult, Ruby's room was smaller than Weiss's at Winters place. It fit a single bed and a desk. That was about it if you didn't count Ruby's art clutter and sketches strewn about the place. She used to be much neater but clearly college experience was getting to her.

In any case the lounge was much nicer and cleaner. Apparently, it was team effort sort of thing.

"I do it," Ciel said walking in with a mat. "Literally every party."

"There's no I in team Ciel."

"Literally every party."

"Well it is your fault we had to get a couch throw..."

Ciel blushed but didn't elaborate which was disappointing for Weiss. She seemed embarrassed by it. Probably spilled a drink or threw up on herself... ahh well it wasn't better in Weiss's head.

Oh, poor naive Ciel, trying to balance all those milkshakes on one tray and roller skate at the same time.

"Uhh, Weiss" Ruby said. "You okay."

Oh, know you got milkshake on yourself. Not so pretty now.

"Weiss!"

"Huh What?"

"Ciel needs the lounge for her yoga," Blake said. "We're moving over to the table."

"Right sure... whatever."

Yang and Blake shared a knowing look as the four of them shifted themselves from the couch to the kitchen table to continue their conversation. The conversation Weiss wasn't paying attention to. She was too busy watching Ciel... doing her yoga... in her tight blue yoga pants...

Weiss narrowed her eyes. Damn Ciel and her incredibly pert behind.

"How often does Ciel do yoga?" Weiss asked suddenly, interrupting Blake who rolled her eyes.

"Really?"

"What? Just seems stranger she chose now to do her yoga."

Ruby laughed.

"Nah, Ciel does Yoga at the same time every day. Never seen her miss one. Two o'clock on the dot. She thinks punctuality is really important."

Well she wasn't wrong but that's not the point. Ciel was here every day, stretching and posing, trying to show off her toned body all under the guise of calmness and serenity. It made Weiss sick.

With a sudden excited squeak, Ruby suddenly slammed her hands into the table and jumping up. She took a full step towards her room before managing to control herself and explain.

"Oh my god. I can't believe I forgot. You guys need to see latest project. I actually drew us all fighting a giant demon. Apparently, it did fit the brief, so I changed it to us as the four Maidens from that story. It's really awesome, you'll love it.

And then she ran off towards her room with a spring in her step leaving the three of them back at the table.

"Hey Blake," Yang said with a smile. "If you had to describe Weiss in a word, what would it be?"

"Hmm that's a tough one... probably punctual."

"Shut up." Weiss muttered. "I know what you're doing."

"Yes, we were not trying to be subtle."

"In all seriousness," Yang said. "You need to relax."

"Maybe I should take up yoga."

"Weiss!"

"What?"

Blake and Yang sighed, sharing another glance as Weiss pouted in her seat with her arms crossed.

"Look Weiss, I know you're horribly neurotic," Yang said. "you can be proud, paranoid, y you've been known to partake in petty revenge-"

"Get to the point," Blake said.

"Like cutting your friends gorgeous hair," Yang said wrapping it up. "But don't do anything stupid. Don't pull a Yang."

"Just don't overthink it. Once we leave, just focus on Ruby and enjoy your time together," Blake said. "You know, Ruby only has eyes for you."

"I know. I trust Ruby fully. Ciel is just trying to steal her." Weiss took a moment after hearing what she just said. "Okay fine, I'll forget about it. Happy?"

"Happy that you aren't going to make your relationship with my sister worse? Yeah I kinda am."

* * *

Blake and Yang left soon after that, both of them having plans back in Vale. Yang crushed Ruby in an over exaggerated hug and told Dew that if she needed help pranking Ruby, just to drop her a line. Blake hugged her too, somewhat more restrained and then the two of them bid them goodbye and hit the road.

Weiss was going to be getting a train back later that night. She had to work tomorrow and unfortunately, no one had been able to cover for her, so she could stay the night. So, with time a precious commodity, it really would be foolish to waste it on petty jealously.

"Hey Ruby," Weiss asked, innocently. "Does this shirt look too tight?"

Then again...

"Nah not really," Ruby said, scrunching up her nose in thought. "It's kinda baggy if anything."

"Well I had to be in a car for two hours and I wanted to be comfortable!"

"Umm..."

Drat, she forgot how hard it was to seduce Ruby sometimes. She was too pure for this world. Well half the time she was. The other half could be really eager though. Ruby was a girl of extremes.

Deciding on a different tactic, Weiss let out an exaggerated fake yawn, using the motion to slide her arm around Ruby's waist. Her girlfriend blinked before turning to Weiss concerned.

"You're not too tired, are you?"

"Oh, forget it," Weiss said, folding her arms and turning back to the laptop. "When's the food getting here?"

Ruby gave her a strange look but didn't press it, instead just getting out her scroll. They had retreated back to Ruby's room to watch a film after spending some time with Ruby's roommates. With only two of them, Ruby's rooms was still rather snug but bearable and they had ordered from a pizza place that Ruby liked.

"Hmm, should be another ten minutes," Ruby said, biting her lip. "Weiss can I ask you something?"

Weiss snapped out of her jealousy induced trance and turned to Ruby, concerned by how nervous she looked. Reaching forward she paused the film, focusing entirely on Ruby.

"What is it?"

"Umm... never mind."

"Ruby."

"Forget it."

"Ruby Rose, you are going to tell me what's wrong right this second or I'll-"

"Do you think Ciel is pretty?"

Weiss's heart skipped a beat, did a summersault and plummeted all at once.

"I- What?"

"It's just..." Ruby began to chew her hair. "It's just you've kinda been focused on her all day. You kept asking questions and you were staring at her when she was doing her yoga. I know you guys are a lot alike and all but-"

Softening, Weiss reached forward and gently pulled Ruby's hair from her mouth. As she did so, the young heiress strikes her cheek and Ruby turned a little pink. Then she flicked Ruby's nose.

"Oww"

"You dolt," she said, incredulously. "How could you think I would be interested in Ciel?"

"I don't know," Ruby said defensively. "You were just acting weird and kept staring at her."

"That is so ridiculous."

"Well I'm sorry. What were you doing then? You've been weird since you got here."

"Well that's because-" Weiss's indignation faltered as she remembered her previous paranoia, her cheeks turning a little pink. "Because I thought that maybe Ciel was trying to steal you from me..."

Weiss managed to hold her impassive look with great difficulty as Ruby stared at her. And then her girlfriend lunged at her, tackling Weiss to the bed in an attempt to wrestle her.

"Ruby!"

"You are unbelievable," Ruby said. "How could you get so mad at me for the same thing you're doing."

"Because I'm a hypocrite, it's part of my charm. Ouch." Ruby had flicked her on the nose. "Okay fine yes I deserved that. I'm sorry."

Ruby let out a huff, folding her arms from her position on top of Weiss, straddling her waist and trapping her arms at her side. The couple stared at each other and both girls suddenly released the position they were in. Ruby blinked. Weiss went a little pink.

And then Ruby reached down and pulled off her own shirt.

* * *

Dew walked into their lounge to find Ciel sitting on the couch with her laptop, headphones into and engrossed in some show. Dew was curious. It wasn't like Ciel to hang out in the lounge alone.

Before Dew could ask why she wasn't in her room, her friend looked up and noticed her, taking off the headphones.

"Thin walls," Ciel muttered, and put her headphones back in.

* * *

"What times your train," Ruby asked.

"Another few hours."

"Boo."

Weiss murmured in agreement as Ruby wrapped her arms tighter round her. The heiress hated she had to go so soon. She couldn't even spend the night. It was so unfair.

She felt Ruby's fingers toying and twirling with her hair, taking advantage of it being loose. So innocent really considering their current position, bodies entwined beneath the covers of Ruby's bed. Absentmindedly, Weiss ran her fingers over Ruby's stomach making her breath hitch slightly.

"When did you get abs," Weiss asked. "Not that I'm complaining."

"Oh, we have a campus gym that's free for students. Plus, I don't have a ton of money, so I normally skip lunch and just have a cookie."

"Please tell me you're joking?"

"No, it really is free."

"Not about that," Weiss said as Ruby giggled. "You can eat garbage every day Ruby."

"Sure, I can. See."

To prove her terrible point, Ruby leaned forward, holding the duvet to cover herself as she leaned over the side of the bed before surfacing again with their pizza box. Weiss rolled her eyes but most of her exasperation had vanished at seeing a peak at Ruby's rear, which she had probably done on purpose. The little minx.

Accepting that Ruby, when left to her own devices, was always going to pick desert over fruit, Weiss decided that if you couldn't beat them, she might as well join her and reached out to grab a slice.

"You know I really didn't think college would be so much like the movies," Ruby said as they ate. "But here I am, scoring with hottest girl on campus and eating pizza naked in a bed with her. It's awesome."

"Isn't the hottest girl on campus usually kinda a bitch in those films?"

"This film's breaking new ground."

"Ahh."

"Yeah but it kinda sucks the main characters such a Mary Sue," Ruby said with a cheeky grin. "She's just too awesome."

"Really? Guess I shouldn't watch it then. She sounds boring."

"Weisssss!"

Ruby pouted as Weiss grinned.

"What? It's your own fault."

Ruby let out a huff before leaning back down into Weiss shoulder and nestling herself firmly in place. When she next spoke, it was a far cry from the previous cheeky tone.

"I wish you didn't have to go."

"Me too."

* * *

Weiss sighed as she left Vales train station, the nights air cold on her skin making her shiver. She wrapped her coat around herself and hurried along the streets, ducking down a side street towards the pier and she wondered when it was that she had learned Vales shortcuts. It really had become her home.

A home that just didn't feel the same now she had to leave Ruby in Patch. Saying goodbye again had been awful. Their visits to each other never felt long enough and while she loved all her other friends dearly, Ruby was special to her.

She thumbed the scroll in her pocket absentmindedly, wondering if she should message Ruby now or wait till she actually got back to Winters apartment. Ruby wanted to make sure she got home safe. Shivering again, Weiss decided it was too cold to take it out now.

Suddenly, Weiss almost walked into girl with short grey blue hair who had stepped into the street in front of her.

"Sorry," she said, trying to step past but she accidentally went the same way as the strange girl. "Excuse me."

But once again, she stepped in front of her but this time the woman grinned. Weiss swallowed, a prickle of fear starting to rise within her. Her hand clenched her scroll tightly, but she didn't know what to do.

"Listen," she said, trying to keep the quiver out of her voice. "I don't have any money."

"Maybe you don't," the woman said. "But your daddy does."

"I-Umph."

Suddenly a wet fabric was pressed against Weiss's mouth, reaching from behind her and muffling her attempts at a scream. She reached up to try pull herself free but whoever had snuck up on her was strong. The woman grabbed Weiss's arms and Weiss caught a glimpse of grey veins on her skin. She was a Faunus.

Squirming and struggling, Weiss felt herself getting weaker, her head getting as the drugged rag took effect until finally she didn't have any strength left at all. She slumped backwards, her eyes barely open as she heard the man who had grabbed her speak.

"Tell Adam, we got her."

And then everything went black.


	42. Chapter 42

Ruby Rose jumped from the train with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. As much as she loved Patch, her new school, her new friends and her new apartment, she was still from Vale at heart and nothing could change that. Coming home still made her heart skip beats in excitement.

Especially since today, no one knew she was coming. She wasn't arrogant enough to think that she was that big a deal but hey it was fun to surprise them. She had said to Weiss she would go to her boring history of art class today, but she hadn't said that she would see it to the end. So Ruby, feeling rather pleased at having found the loop hole, had bailed an hour in and hopped on a train back to Vale.

It was going to be awesome. Getting to see everyone again. Sure, Blake and Yang had come up yesterday for everyone else it had been ages. She could Skype them, but it wasn't the same.

And okay it was slightly weird that Weiss hadn't messaged her to say Shen had gotten home but Ruby wasn't worried. That would be crazy. It had only been one night. There was probably a totally normal explanation...

Pushing the doubts from her mind, Ruby pulled up her backpack and started to walk rather briskly towards Beacon. Weiss was working today (which was probably why she hadn't text this morning either) and she had said Jaune was too. Blake had mentioned working as well.

So, it was in good spirits that Ruby arrived in Beacon, happy to see her friends again and not at all worried about Weiss not texting her back. Jaune was at the till serving a customer but he brightened when he noticed she was there.

"Ruby," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"What? Can't a girl drop by and visit her best friends at work?"

"You really missed the milkshakes that much?"

"No," Ruby poured before pausing. "But while I'm here..."

Jaune laughed, turning around heading to the counter fridge. He didn't need to ask her flavour. She always had a chocolate strawberry combo. It was so good. As he was working, Blake poked her head round the kitchen door and smiled.

"I thought I heard you," she said with a shake of her head. "Least that explains why Weiss didn't turn up this morning."

"What do you mean?" Ruby said with a frown. "Weiss isn't here?"

Blake and Jaune glanced at each other, a confused look on their faces.

"No, it sucked since we were really busy," Jaune said. "Blake tried to call her but she didn't answer..."

There was long silence and Ruby bit her lip. Why hadn't Weiss messaged anyone? Where was she? Did she make it back home, should Ruby phone the police or was she just being stupid?

No, she had to be overreacting. She laughed nervously, probably weirding Blake and Jaune our more than comforting them. She smoothed down her skirt and forced a smile.

"Weiss is probably just at home. Her train got back late so she must have overslept or something."

"Slept this late?"

"Yep," Ruby said quickly. "I'll just head over and see her. She's going to be so embarrassed. I'll see you guys later. Bye."

And with that Ruby ran off not even stopping to pick up the milkshake that Jaune had made her.

* * *

Ruby walked to Weiss's apartment as fast as she could without running. She couldn't run after all, not over something as silly as this. That would be ridiculous. It was starting to sound less convincing every time she thought it.

She let herself into the building using the services button, a trick Weiss had shown her and took the stairs two at a time. As she did, she passed a Faunus girl with grey-blue hair. She was wearing a hoodie and Ruby was only able to tell she was a Faunus from the darkness veins showing on her neck. She pushed roughly past Ruby, not helping her panicked mood in the slightest.

"Sorry," she said even though it wasn't her fault and got no reply. "...Jerk."

Shaking her head, Ruby continued on to Weiss's apartment, as quickly as casual would allow. When she got there, she found an envelope lying on the ground outside and she could hear raised voices. Picking up the letter she frowned as she noticed it wasn't addressed to anyone.

"Something probably just happened with her scroll." It was her uncle Qrows voice. He sounded like he was trying keep someone calm, like that time Yang got lost at the carnival when she was ten. "It happens. She probably stayed at Ruby's and just went straight to work."

"You don't know that. Weiss doesn't forget to text like that. She would have used Ruby's scroll."

Weiss wasn't here... Ruby paused as she stood outside the door, one hand raised to knock and the other clutching the letter in the other. Swallowing, she knocked only and barely a second had passed before the door was yanked open.

A frantic looking Winter appeared in the doorway, her eyes wide and her hair out of place. Her eyes dropped in disappointment when it wasn't her sister. A few moments later, her uncle stuck her head around the doorway.

"Oh, hey kiddo. Ya girlfriend with you?" There was silence. "Damn... what's that."

Ruby handed over the letter to Winter who practically snatched it away, heading over to a table and leaving Ruby standing awkwardly in the doorway. Qrow sighed and gestured for her to come in.

She followed Winter to the table who was currently opening the letter. Winter tore it open and let out an awful whimper that chilled Ruby to the bone. Qrow was by her side in moment, hands on her shoulder.

"Win? What's wrong?"

Hand over her mouth, Winter tipped the contents of the paper onto the table. A hand-written letter fell out, alongside several strands of white hair.

* * *

They closed Beacon early once they heard the news. Ruby was taken down to the station for a statement and to question her about Weiss being one of the last people to see her. Yang had gotten a small text and then had to drill Qrow for details.

She hadn't managed to get a lot but in his defence her Uncle was distracted by trying to console Winter and also stop her doing something rash. But from what he said, it seemed like Weiss really had been kidnapped by the White Fang. They hadn't made any demands yet.

Yang had told everyone else. She had been hesitant, but it felt like they had a right to know. They had talked, they had worried, they had discussed it all for what felt like forever, and then, eventually everyone had gone home. It didn't seem right but what else could they do.

Yang had stayed at Beacon, knowing she would feel too antsy at home, and deciding to just clean up until she could go get Ruby. Funnily enough, Yang didn't really want her sister going home alone.

Sighing, Yang sprayed some disinfectant on the counter, wiping it down for the third or fourth time. The distraction was getting less and less effective. The smell of bleach was also starting to hang in the air, making her turn on the kitchen extractor fan. There really wasn't thing left for her to do or redo.

"Damn," she muttered to herself, looking around aimlessly. "Bet Weiss would be able to find something I'd missed." She chuckled. "Not that she'd do it anyway."

Yeah Weiss was really manager material. There was no one better at pointing out problems and then delegating them. Usually to Jaune or Nora. Blake would just pointedly stare at Weiss if she ever bossed her around until Weiss would get embarrassed and get someone else to do it.

God this sucked.

Yang used to have a few ways of coping with stress. One was go to gym and hit something. Usually a sandbag but there had been that one time. The other way was to get drunk and go to club and hit something, usually a sandy blonde.

Now though she wasn't really doing the second thing anymore and her gym was closed. Which was why she was here, recleaning every surface, wasting time while one of her best friends was god knows where after being kidnapped by criminals.

 ** _Thud_**

Cursing, Yang nursed her wrist from and winced as she saw there was a dent in the fridge. Well, at least she had found something to hit. Yang had no idea how all the others were coping with feeling this useless.

* * *

Blake was nervous. Most people would be nervous walking where she was. It wasn't a great building with the hallway lights dim where the bulbs hadn't died or broken. There was spray paint on the walls, most of it racial, decrying humans and praising Faunus. It was quiet but not in a comforting way. There were just very few people talking, no music playing and anytime Blake passed a group they would quieten, staring at her until she was gone.

That wasn't what made Blake nervous. She knew that the worst she was in for was some hassle about wearing a bow. Even if they pushed it further she couldn't handle them. For cowardly hiding while others flaunting their features with pride that boarded on arrogance. Blake couldn't judge them for that. She had been there herself and the people living here had it worse than she did now.

Things were changing for the Faunus. It had been slow, but it was happening. The... aggressive tactics of Sienna Khan had woken people up, but it has been the others like her parents had stopped things escalating and guided the talks that had made the difference.

But that change hadn't reached everywhere, and this building housed the frustrated and restless. It was so different from Vale despite being only a two and half hour drive. All this time, they had been this close, and Blake hadn't known. She felt guilty about that. That it had taken this situation for Blake to look her up and reach out to her old friend.

Reaching a door, Blake paused, double checking the address on her scroll. She already knew it was right and it was a weak attempt to delay the inevitable. Letting out a breath, she tried to calm herself down and before covering her face with a mask of cool aloofness. Only then did she knock.

She heard movement in the apartment. Quiet but there. She always had been light footed, blending in so much that eventually it became habit, even when she was alone.

The door opened, and tired grey eyes widened as they recognised her.

"Blake?"

"Hey Ilia," Blake said, remembering to smile after a second. "Can we talk?"

* * *

Ilia made her coffee as Blake sat in her lounge. It was... awkward to say the least. It had been so long since they had last seen each other, before she had even moved to Vale. After Weiss had gone missing and Blake had delved back into her old her contacts to see what she could dig up. She hadn't expected Ilia of all people to be so close.

Running her hand through her hair, Blake suppressed a groan, wishing she had brought Sun... actually around Ilia that probably wasn't a great idea. It wasn't like he even knew much about the White fang anyway, only that she had used to be a part of it.

Ilia walked back in handing her a mug she accepted gratefully. It was just how she liked it, but still they drank in silence.

"Do you know why I'm here?" Blake asked finally. "About..."

"I can guess," Ilia said shortly. "And it's not to see me."

"I didn't know you were here until today."

"Wasn't like I was hiding."

"Oh... how gave you been?"

Ilia tensed in her chair, closing her eyes in pent up frustration. Blake could see the whites of her knuckles as she clenched the chairs arms, probably willing herself to stay her normal colour.

"Just- don't... say what you're here to say and go."

"Ilia..." Her old friend looked away. "Okay. Where's Adam?"

"I don't know."

Blake quickly scanned her face looking for any like of a lie or if Ilia was hiding something. She found none as Ilia sighed.

"A lot has changed since you left Blake. We're... divided. Khan drew back after we started getting results. She said that attacking once we got what we want sent the wrong message. Adam... disagreed and others did too. They were arguments, plans going off book About a year ago, he splintered with some followers and has been separate ever since."

"I haven't heard about that."

"We aren't exactly advertising it. We'll get political pushback if they think were divided. Better to deal with it ourselves."

The bitterness in her voice betrayed her annoyance. These weren't her words, they sound like Khan. Ilia had never cared much for the politics of the White Fang. She wanted change now not vague legislation and future promises, there as a token gesture rather than a commitment.

It was that drive that had made them friends. It what that drive that made Blake ask her next question, despite her reluctance.

"I'm surprised you didn't go with him," she said quietly. "Why didn't you?"

Ilia was silent, her own mugs sat untouched on the table that lay between them. It might as well have been a gulf for how much she drew away from her.

"I almost did but it's ... it's not why I joined. I don't know if Khan is either but it's closer. What Adam wants won't help anything even if I wish it did."

"Like kidnapping heiresses?"

"Yeah, I heard about that." Ilia looked at her curiously. "Why do you care? You left the White Fang and it's not the first time Adams tried this. Her daddy dearest will pay whatever ransom."

Blake didn't know what was worse, Weiss's father paying or not paying. She knew the depths of Adams depravity personally, she knew of Jacques only by reputation. She didn't trust either of them with her friend's well-being whether the ransom was paid or not.

"Weiss and I..." Blake paused, unsure how to best phrase it for Ilia. "Are friends."

"...What?"

"It's a long story."

Ilia's hand clenched around her cup, so tight Blake was sure it must break.

"Summarise it."

Blake sighed, supposing she owed Ilia that much.

"Weiss left her father and came to live with her sister in Vale, who her father had already disowned. She got a job at the same cafe I work at and I pretended not to know who she was. Eventually I confronted her, she threw a drink in my face and stormed off but was miserable and later apologised. I accidentally dropped a milkshake on her because of Nora and we buried the hatchet."

She took a breath.

"Weiss started to show interest in my boyfriend's best friend but my best friends younger sister was interested in Weiss and they've been dating ever since. Ruby's since moved to Patch but they're trying long distance. They're weird but they're cute and she makes Weiss want to try really hard, so we beat it friends on the Vytal festival which was great."

Final stretch.

"Recently someone old friends of Weiss's from when she was kinda a bitch showed up and tried to bully her into coming back to Atlas, so they could use her political clout. She told them to shove him and was really mature about it. I told her to throw a drink at them..."

There was a long pause as Ilia just stared at her incredulously. Blake fidgeted slightly and suddenly it was like they were twelve again when they had accidently broken her mother's vase. They looked at each other and smiled softly.

"You'd like her you know," Blake said. "If you gave her a chance... or she was single."

A poor attempt at a joke but it made Ilia smirk all the same. She shook her head and stood up, Blake joining her when she recognised, their time was done. But only for now, if Blake had anything to do with it. She wouldn't lose her friend again.

"I'll make some calls," Ilia muttered, not quite looking at her. "I'll let you know what I find."

"Thank you."

Blake crossed the room to leave, passing Ilia as she did so. She hesitated at her and then threw her arms around her. Ilia stiffened at the surprise contact but relaxed slowly into the hug.

"I'll see you soon Ilia," Blake said. "I promise."

Ilia didn't answer as Blake left but as she did so, Blake could have sworn she saw the hint of a smile on her old friend's face.

* * *

Ilia worked fast, she always had. By the time Blake was walking in her front door, Ilia has already messaged her. How she had gotten her number, Blake wasn't quite sure but decided it was best not to dwell on it.

Unfortunately, though, the info wasn't a lot to go on. Adams White Fang had four possible safe houses in the Vale area that Ilia knew of. Weiss could be in any of them or maybe none of them at all.

Blake had been hoping she could tip of the police to a single location or maybe even scout it out herself to be sure. But with four locations, she didn't like her odds of not being noticed and that would surely put Weiss in more danger.

The idea of sending the police four anonymous tips didn't sound productive either. Too easy to be ignored and dismissed. She could go in and explain it, but that would leave her answering a lot of unwanted questions about her own past and dragging Ilia into it as well. And it still ran the risk of tipping Adam off as they scouted the four locations, probably far more noticeably than Blake could.

But what else could she do?

"Blake."

Suns voice pulled her from her musings and back to her home, where she realised, she was standing in the door way still. Shooting him a smile, she entered properly, hanging up her coat and locking the door behind her.

"Hey," she said, softly. "I said you didn't have to wait up for me."

"Kinda hard to fall asleep when your girlfriend is going to talk to her old criminal's friends about her other friend who was kidnapped, and she says you can't come."

The sarcasm hid his concern poorly so Blake decided not to admonish him for his remarks about Ilia. It wasn't really like he was wrong anyway, just a little naive. He was only earnest when she was in a good mood.

So instead, she smiled trying to convey that she was okay. There was a few moments and he sighed before smiling back.

"I got dinner," he said, gesturing to the kitchen. "Fish and chips."

"I could tell," she said, heading towards the wonderful smell. "You always pile on the vinegar."

"Is that a complaint?"

"No," she conceded. "It does taste better."

As she walked though, she sensed a little hesitance from Sun. She frowned but before she could say anything he spoke.

"There's... something else. It's probably nothing but someone dropped this off while you were out." He reaches into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. "I didn't see them, just heard the letter slot go. By the time I got to the door they were gone."

"Anything else?"

"Nope just that. Not even an envelope."

Blake frowned taking the paper from Sun. She was pretty sure it wasn't the Fang. They tended to make it was clear it was them. A mark or logo or something. As she uncrumpled the paper, she became sure it wasn't them, but her confusion just grew.

All it said in a messy untidy scrawl was one word.

 _Docks_


	43. Chapter 43

The strong smell of salt filled Weiss's nose, wafting in through the window riding the sound of crashing waves. It was only a small window, high up on the wall and too tiny for even her small frame to fit through even if she could reach it. She had tried the first night. Last night she hadn't bothered trying.

Part of her wondered if the gravity of the situation had reached her yet since she couldn't help but think all things considered, her situation could have been a lot worse.

Her room was small, and she had guard outside at all times. There was a heavy scraping sound before anyone ever opened the door and when they left, she heard it again. Presumably, there was a latch on the outside, locking her in. Aside from that, the room was fairly nondescript. Just an empty room with a cot in it.

Food came in twice a day. Bathroom breaks were twice and for the four days she had been here, showering hadn't been offered. Weiss probably wouldn't have accepted the offer anyway, not here. The food given to her was basic, given with snide comments that it wasn't lobster or caviar.

And aside from that, Weiss had been left alone. Monotony had become her biggest concern. Maybe it was just her way of coping with the fact that she had been kidnapped by terrorists and might never see-

Weiss swallowed and pulled her legs up to wrap her arms around them. It was going to be fine. Back in Atlas she had been trained in case she was ever targeted. They had already taken a cut of her hair and taken a few photos. That meant she was being ransomed. If she just did as she was told, she would be fine. You don't hurt the hostage if you want to keep your leverage. Everything was going to be just fine.

There was a loud crash from outside her cell and Weiss jumped out of her skin. As her heart thumped in her chest, she waited back against the wall and eyes fixed on the wall. As the seconds turned to minutes, Weiss sunk her head into her knee.

Yeah, the monotony was the worst part...

* * *

 _"-and heel and toe, now up and down."_

 _Her mother's soft but clear voice rang out loud across the room, and Weiss obeyed, dancing cleanly and gracefully. Her limbs moved smoothly, keeping the rhythm even when the piano failed to or missed a note. Each time it did, Weiss frowned, glancing across but saying nothing._

 _"Winter you're doing great, just as you were. That's good too Weiss, now again from the top. Try to work on your jumps dear. Your landing is shaky."_

 _Weiss glanced over at her sister, who bit her lip but nodded. Taking a breath, she pushed her hairband back through her hair and began again. And so, Weiss began as well trying to ignore her mother's criticism or the fact she had none for Winter despite plenty more mistakes._

 _Honestly, Weiss may like ballet as much as Winter liked piano, but at least she was good at it. Her parents wanted her to learn so had committed herself to excelling, as was expected. She practised and perfected danced alone in her room after school even when she would prefer to be with her friends. Winter never played piano unless their mother was asking her too._

 _Still without complaint, Weiss continued to dance ignoring how her feet where starting to become uncomfortable and how thirsty she was. The three Schnee women played their parts, dancer, musician and conductor until the song reached its peak and their mother let out a hum of contentment._

 _The sister's reactions were rather more muted, Winter staring at the keys and Weiss trying not to appear too eager for praise. As usual, their mother started with Winter._

 _"That was wonderful sweetheart, you've improved so much." Her lips pursed as she scanned Weiss. "And Weiss dear... try to smile more, you look like you're trying to much."_

 _Weiss felt her heart sink in her chest at the words wanting nothing more than to sink onto the floor in exhaustion. Instead she forced herself to smile and nod. Winter didn't say anything._

 _"Well I thought I her performance was flawless." Weiss's gaze snapped to the door and towards her father's voice. "Weiss's, I mean."_

 _Weiss was too young to notice how Winter flinched at the words. Instead she just grinned broadly, happy for the attention from her father that she had spent all morning seeking from her mother._

 _"You were watching daddy."_

 _"Of course, Weiss," he said. "It's time for your afternoon lessons."_

 _Weiss jumped a few feet forward before remembering herself. Turning back round to her mother, she cleared her face and waited. There was a brief moment of pause, just long enough for Weiss to worry before she nodded. Weiss's grin broke out across her face but still she forced herself not to appear too eager, maintaining her poise as she walked toward her father. Jacques nodded in approval and the two of them left the dance leaving Willow and Winter alone._

 _They walked towards his office on a silence she knew better than to break, even though she was itching to ask what parts of her dance he'd liked. But that wasn't the Schnee way. Openly bragging was vulgar and crude, unbecoming of a Schnee. So, she remained quiet and followed._

 _As they reached her father's office, Weiss saw that Klein was waiting for them. He held a spare change of clothes for her to change out of her dance outfit and he smiled warmly for her as he passed down to her before addressing her father._

 _"Mister Schnee," he said. "Will you be wanting anything else before Miss Weiss begins her lessons."_

 _"No Klein."_

 _"Some refreshments perhaps, she was dancing quite a while."_

 _"I suppose, but nothing to sugary. I don't want her losing focus." He paused. "And send a glass down to my wife will you."_

 _"Certainly sir."_

 _He winked at Weiss as he left so her father couldn't see and Weiss had no doubt that although her refreshment might not be sugary, Klein would ensure they were a treat none the less._

 _After Weiss changed in the ensuite, she sat down opposite her father and waited for him to begin. He was writing something on his desk, only addressing her when he had finished._

 _"Do you know why your sister was so sullen today?"_

 _Weiss blinked, not expecting the subject to turn to Winter._

 _"No father, mother was happy with her piano playing."_

 _"I heard. Were you?"_

 _"Umm..."_

 _"Don't 'Umm' Weiss. I asked you a question. How did you find Winters performance?"_

 _Weiss bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself hesitating once more. The jealously she had felt about the attention Winter had received was gone now. It didn't feel right to criticise her behind her back. But her father didn't relent, so eventually, Weiss did._

 _"It wasn't very good. She kept missing notes and was out of rhythm for a lot of it." Weiss paused, trying to think what her father wanted. "Is that why she was upset?"_

 _"No, truth be told I don't think Winter much cares for piano... or any of the arts for that matter. However, if nothing else, your sister is not stupid, and she knows when she's failing."_

 _"And she's smart enough to know when your mother is coddling her. I wouldn't be surprised if that dismal performance today was a test to see how little your mother thinks of her."_

 _Confusion flittered across Weiss's face. She had though her mother's actions meant she cared more for Winter than she did for Weiss. Her father chuckled as though he had read her mind._

 _"No Weiss. If you care about someone, you don't allow them to be weak. You don't settle for mediocrity. Now your sister knows that your mother doesn't think she's worth teaching or that she's not capable of improving."_

 _"Coddling is not love Weiss, it's apathy. Always remember that." He smiled briefly at her before turning back to his desk and picking up a letter. "Now let's discuss your recent report cards..."_

* * *

A loud scraping came from the door and Weiss sat up, awoken from her stupor. It was too early for dinner, wasn't it? Maybe she had fallen asleep without realising. The thought was almost hopeful, passing another day would almost be a blessing.

An even more hopeful part of her, a childish part, wondered if perhaps that meant this ordeal was over. That the door would open, and she would be home within the hour. Within days this would be in the past and within weeks, a memory.

It was a naive thought, one that died the moment that man walked through the door. Good news rarely comes from a man in a mask.

He was Faunus, like the rest of her captors, twin horns adorned his head splitting his blood red and slicked back hair. He dressed in black and strode towards her with a practised stride, one that oozed intimidation and force. It reminded Weiss of her father before he entered a meeting. He walked the same way and unlike her cousin who Weiss has once witnessed practising that same walk, he didn't look like a child.

But neither did he really seem entirely a man. The intimidation and force was perfected but to Weiss's eyes, the walk was still practised. She held onto that, not knowing if it was a comfort or something else to fear.

"Weiss Schnee," he breathed. "I think it's time you and I had a little talk..." He paused as he reached her, letting her know, he was in control.

Weiss swallowed back her fear, urging herself not to pull away. It was a command her body failed to recognise making the man's smile grow.

"My name is Adam Taurus," he continued. "The leader of the White Fang."

"I thought Sienna Khan was the leader of the White Fang."

Her voice was horse and cracked from lack of use. It seemed to amuse Adam.

"So, you do know your politics," he smirked but there was a tinge of resentment held there. "Khan was the leader but she has failed us. We thought she was strong but like Belladonna before her, she lacks the strength to do what's truly necessary."

He pulled himself up, pride puffed into arrogance, but Weiss was too distracted by the name he had said to fully notice. Belladonna?

"Now I lead the White Fang- the true White Fang. Those who would see Faunus take their rightful place in the world."

"And where's that?"

"Above you," he spat. "You people persecuted and abused my kind for generations and now, now that we are growing in strength, you wish to placate us. You talk of justice and peace, but justice is about balance. When a pendulum swings it doesn't just stop in the middle."

He let out a shaky breath, the passion excised from him. Weiss could see a few modules of sweat on his brow and he pushed them aside as he turned to face her fully once more.

"A pendulum corrects Schnee," he said. "As do I."

Weiss forced herself to meet his mask. She didn't know why she did or where this sudden burst of bravery came from. Maybe it was adrenaline or maybe it was just to spite him. Maybe she was just tired of being scared in a cage. Whatever it was, Weiss just said coldly.

"You sound like my father."

 ** _Smack_**

The back of his palm struck her face and Weiss went sprawling onto the mattress. Gasping in pain, she clutched her already reddening cheek and sat back up. Despite the pain, she took some satisfaction in Adams anger. Another comment came to her head, but some semblance of caution bid her not to push him.

"She said you were a bitch," Adam said, before recovering his anger and scoffing. "You humans are all alike."

"She," Weiss managed to ask. Anything more would reveal how much pain her had caused her.

"The woman who told us where to find you. That's humans for you. You'll tear each other apart just to spite each other."

Woman? Suddenly Weiss knew who it was. She hadn't thought about why the White Fang had come after now but suddenly she remembered that her father had told everyone she was travelling, and she hadn't done anything to attract attention. But she had done something to make someone angry.

Cinder.

She knew immediately it was true, despite how unbelievable it seemed. Cinder had been petty, cruel and a bully but this, working with terrorists just to get back at her. All because she had fallen in a fountain. Maybe she hadn't meant for it to be taken this far. Perhaps Cinder had merely meant to scare her.

Most likely she simply hadn't care at all once it was done.

The look on her face must have been enough for Adam to claim a victory as he stood, a confident smirk etched back onto his face. He strode back towards the door but before he reached it, he paused in a slight moment of hesitance. Weiss realised then that so far, Adam seemed to have had no reason to come here at all save to torment her.

"Where you were working," he said quietly without looking at her. "There was a Faunus."

Weiss said nothing, and he continued after a time, his voice so quiet that Weiss could barely hear him.

"Was she..." He straightened up. "Forget it."

Then he slammed the door leaving her alone once more.

* * *

 _"_ Wake up."

A hand clenched on her mouth, preventing the scream that she tried to loose. Strong hands held her in place as she tried to thrash free. In the dark and still hazy from sleep, Weiss's senses were practically useless overridden by fear. It was happening. What she had feared from her first night here, the White Fang had gotten tired of waiting and were going to make an example of her.

"Calm down," the voice said again and when she didn't comply it said more forcefully. "Weiss, shut up."

"Blake?"

Weiss quietened, more out of shock than understanding. In the dark, she still couldn't see her friend properly, but the voice was undoubtedly Blake's. Her shadowy form raised a finger to her lips before making some movements that Weiss couldn't make out.

She sat up in her bed, still wearing the clothes that she been taken in. With the camera in the corner, her clothes had remained firmly on. Blake glanced over her and then something was pressed into her chest. It was a backpack.

"Put these on."

"What?"

"Your clothes are too light. Some Faunus have night vision, but darker clothes will still make it harder." She glanced back at the camera. "Sorry but it'll help. Now do it quickly."

Reluctantly but seeing the wisdom of the decision, Weiss quickly complied. Maybe it was the adrenaline, Weiss still felt a little embarrassed at stripping down and changing in front of her friend. Blake's clothes for her were simple, dark jeans and a plain hoodie. They were a little big but still fit.

Blake hadn't turned on the light despite Weiss's near blindness. Instead she just led Weiss by the hand quickly explaining that the light would bring too much attention. It would be fine once Weiss was in the corridor.

Once there, Weiss found Blake was right and stared down at the slumped guard next to her door. Without even a comment, Blake dragged them inside the room and shut the door.

"Might just buy us enough time," she explained before noticing Weiss's expression and defending. "They're just unconscious."

"Oh well that's fine then," Weiss hissed quietly before saying. "Sorry I'm just..."

"I know," Blake said. "You don't really get used to it. You just learn to cope."

"And how do you do that?"

"We told jokes," Blake said with a smile. "You know me. This way and quietly."

Weiss obeyed, following Blake's almost foot step by foot step in her efforts to emulate. Blake moved slowly but firmly onwards, occasionally stopping at doors to be extra careful.

Weiss mused they must have been in a factory of some sort, probably abandoned or maybe the White Fang owner it under another name. It probably didn't really matter but anything to distract her from how horribly loud her heart sounded in her chest, like a giant alarm drawing all near her, was welcome to her.

"How do you know all this," Weiss whispered softly. "It's like your someone else."

Once she said the words she regretted. It seemed tactless and almost ungrateful, but Blake didn't react.

"I was someone else, a long time ago," she said after some time. "My parents were the ones who founded the White Fang."

Weiss gasped at the admission, gaining a forceful stare at the noise that immediately softened a little.

"The White Fang wasn't always like this. At one point we were merely a political civil rights movement. Legislation mostly and peaceful protests."

She sighed sombrely.

"It... wasn't enough. Not for me and not for a lot of us. My parents were pressured and eventually they stepped down and Khan took over. That was the first split of the White Fang. I stayed with the Fang."

She brushed past the explanation and Weiss felt she only expanded at all to try and soothe her worries. Humour was one way to cope. Distraction was another. Perhaps she was being unfair. How often would Blake get to talk about this? To be among it all once again but now on the other side.

Suddenly, Blake froze her car ears flickering as she heard something far outside Weiss's range of hearing. Slowly, she held a finger to her lips and gestured Weiss to follow slowly and quietly behind her. Weiss felt herself shaking and her mouth was dry, but she swallowed down her fear and followed. She had thought she had light feet, years of both fencing and dancing aiding her stealth, but still every step sounded to her like she was wearing boots two sizes too big. Blake moved like a wraith.

As they turned a corner, Weiss's weaker ears finally picked up what Blake's had. Down the hall the sounds of voices could be heard through a door. Light shone through onto the wall opposite, meaning that there must have been a window in the door itself and Weiss then felt her heart lurch as she realised Blake was leading her down towards it.

Their approach slowed as they got closer and even Blake seemed to put more effort into being quiet. It seemed like an impossible task to the young heiress. Her heart was jack hammer in her chest. Her lungs pushed her breaths out in huge bellows despite her attempts to be quiet. Each footfall sounded like a clatter.

This wouldn't work, they were going to be caught. Weiss had seen how good Blake's hearing was. Any attempts at work to sneak up on her when she was reading, usually by Nora or Yang always resulted with Blake spraying them with a disinfectant, usually without even looking up. Sneaking past a room of Faunus simply couldn't be done. They would hear Weiss and then Blake would end up in just as much danger as she was.

As they reached the door, Blake ducked down and moved slowly underneath the window. Above them, Weiss could hear the sounds of talk and perhaps the playing of a game. They didn't sound cheerful, more like workers at the tail end of a very long night shift. Workers who had kidnapped her to hold her ransom...

Pushing the thought from her mind so as not to make self-feel worse, Weiss knelt down to follow Blake's example. She didn't try to crouch like Blake had, not trusting her body to hold her stable, instead just resorting to crawling.

It took an age but eventually Weiss managed to reach a point where she felt safe to stand. Blake watched her patiently as Weiss shook where she stood before taking her by the hand and gently leading her on. After a time when she must have thought it was safe, she spoke once more.

"Under Khans leadership, The White Fang became as you probably know it. More aggressive protests and intimidation tactics." There was regret in her voice. "Some of our members went a bit further and while they were condemned, they weren't punished."

"And you?"

"I started living with some friends. In hindsight only, some of them actually were. We weren't doing much for the Faunus rights. Just being delinquents but it made us feel good. Important..." Blake sighed. "One time it went too far. Adam... he's the man in charge here-"

"We've met," Weiss said coldly.

Amber eyes darted back to her and though it was hard to tell in the dark, she could have sworn they flickered to her cheek.

"I'm sorry," Blake said. "Well he was kinda in charge of our little group. We were young but even then, he had a way of pulling the worst out of people."

"That was until he started fighting. When it was known racists or humans who had attacked our own' that was one thing. I got pretty good in a fight. Then one time he started a fight with a shopkeeper just because they were serving people Adam didn't like."

"It got ugly fast and soon the man was down and bleeding badly. Everyone ran... Except me. I don't know why I stayed really. Maybe it was just seeing Adam properly for the first time, but I just remembered standing there and there was just so much blood."

Blake swallowed, and Weiss wondered if Blake was really talking to her anymore. Her movements remained quiet and skilled, far more than Weiss's anyway but she almost seemed to glide instead of walk bow.

"I think some of my friends tried to visit me in prison." Weiss's face must have look stricken at that "They didn't think I did it or anything, but they knew I knew who did. The police pressured me to give Adam up but a few days later I was released."

"How?"

"My parents. They'd never lost track of me. They hadn't stopped fighting either. I thought they had given up and gone home but they had just changed tactics, working on policy and lobbying. Going after the problems. So, I left the White Fang and never looked back. I don't think Khan was completely wrong. History is filled with examples of aggressive protest groups. Take the Suffragettes and Suffragists. But you need both and the violence can't just be for yourself... This way."

Weiss hadn't even noticed they had reached a single door, a small window next to it revealing the outside world she hadn't seen in days. The dark of night hid most of the scenery, but pockets of light illuminated by lamps broke the blackness. Despite that Weiss still couldn't identify the place.

"How did you find me?" She asked quietly. "And why not call the police?"

"I don't trust them to get you out properly," Blake said before saying almost guiltily. "And I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

Once more, Weiss was left at a loss for words. It seemed unbelievable that Blake would want to keep these Faunus safe. They had kidnapped her and from what Blake had just told her, it didn't sound like they had ever shown Blake the same courtesy. Respect and trust was earned, it wasn't owed.

"But how did you even find me," she asked, changing the subject.

"It's complicated, I'll maybe explain later. I got some information from someone I trusted and then gambled on something else." She turned back the door. "Okay Weiss, once we are outside follow me quickly and quietly. I didn't see any guards coming in, but I don't want to take the chance. Stick to the shadows. You ready?"

Weiss nodded before realising Blake was still facing the night. Taking a long breath, Weiss shakily said.

"Okay."

Later Weiss would barely remember the run. From the moment Blake opened the door, they were moving. It wasn't quite running, even Blake didn't seem like she could sprint flat out and stay as quiet as she wanted to be. But still they moved quickly, Weiss barely able to keep up with Blake's long strides. They stooped as they ran, trying to appear small and just in case any White Fang Members happened to be out.

But if there were any about, they didn't notice the two women. Somehow the minute stretched out into what felt like hours, Weiss believing that any second now they were bound to be caught and yet when it was done, and Blake slowed to a halt at the fence, it felt like it had taken, no time at all.

Panting slightly, Weiss could see Blake watching her in the dark. She raised her hand to indicate she was okay and her friend nodded. They slowed their pace, focusing back onto moving quietly and remaining undetected as they hugged the darkness of the fence, Weiss following on Blake's lead.

After a few minutes of walking, Blake stopped, and Weiss saw they had reached a section of the fence where the chain had become detached from the ground. Perhaps a storm had loosened it or maybe the rust had worn it loose, but whatever the reason, the lack of maintenance had given them their means of escape.

"Go," Blake said. "I'll be right behind you."

Weiss nodded and knelt down. Part of her felt like she should say Blake should go first but fear overrode the need to seem strong. The hole wasn't large, and Weiss was barely able to shimmy her way through. Metal caught on the clothes, impeding her crawl. What was worse was how much the fence rattled but eventually Weiss was through and onto the other side of the fence.

Blake smiled encouragingly before crouching down and swiftly joining her on the other side. As Blake stood up, Weiss felt a surge in her chest. It was over. She was free.

* * *

"Weiss!"

Winters strong arms embraced her in a strong hug that almost knocked her over. She felt shocked, never having seen Winter exhibit such strong emotions. She could count their hugs on one hand. But right now, the two Schnee sisters embraced in a room with police like no one was watching at all.

Blake had driven her straight home and then promptly been arrested. It was ridiculous, but they had assumed she was part of the White Fang rather than a rescuer. Eventually Weiss was able to convince them she wasn't simply suffering from Stockholm syndrome and they relented to just questioning the girl.

With Weiss safe they had gotten the location of where she had been held from Blake and then gone to arrest them. The Fang had been mid pack up when the police arrived and without a hostage had surrendered easily. Except their leader but last Weiss heard, Adam was bruised but in custody.

The police had talked to her, questioning and requestioning her on every detail of her imprisonment to determine how well treated she had been. Doctors poked and prodded took some blood for tests and all Weiss had wanted to do was sleep.

Eventually after what seemed like hours, they had finally let her see her sister.

In a darkly humorous way, Winter looked worse than she did. Large bags sat under her eyes and hair seemed dry and unkempt. Stress and worry were wrought on her features and although it had only been a few days, she seemed thinner. Weiss guessed that it had only been Qrow, who stood awkwardly off to the side that had held her sister together. She was indebted to the man for that, but she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to replay it.

"It's okay," Weiss said. "Winter I'm okay."

"Did they hurt you?"

Winters relief gave way for a moment of anger, but Weiss shook her head.

"I'm okay," she repeated before letting out a short laugh. " All things considered, they kept me well."

Blake had been right again, humour helped. Winter didn't seem to agree though pulling back from the hug, fire still in her eyes.

"Listen Weiss," she said. "There's something you need to know."

Winter sighed rubbing her temple while Weiss just looked at her confused. She was back wasn't she? What was Winter so worried about now? The danger had passed.

"I had to phone him Weiss, when they first gave a ransom. He insisted on flying out to attend any negotiations. He's here Weiss."

"Father is here."

* * *

The sun sat high in the sky, shining brightly as though aware of the past few days good news. Of course, most of the town wasn't aware of the details, all they knew was that some rich business guys daughter had been kidnapped but was now safely back home. Only a few people wondered why that home was here in Vale, not Atlas, where the father had flown from, but most chalked it up to the eccentricities of billionaires.

At the end of a dock, a young woman stood, leaning on the wooden barrier and staring listlessly into the sea. Blake walked up to her and for a minute they just stood, not saying anything. Finally, Blake spoke asking the question that she had brought this woman here for.

"Why did you do it?"

"I don't like Weiss," Emerald said. "Never really have. Thought she was kinda obnoxious back in Atlas. Dumb too. Now, she's even worse since she gotten this whole moral superiority thing going on."

Emerald sighed and Blake watched as reached into her pocket and started to fidget with a brown wallet. After a few moments, opening a few pouches before dropping it into the ocean. It only then occurred to Blake it probably wasn't hers.

"And yet you told me where she was," Blake prompted, making Emerald roll her eyes.

"Yeah anonymously, how did you even find me?"

"You'd be amazed at what you can find online."

"Hilarious." Emerald groaned, dropping her head onto the wood. Then she sighed and stood back up. "Look, Weiss is a snob, but I don't want her dead or anything."

"Should have told your friend that before she gave Weiss up."

Emerald flinched casting her eyes down.

"Cinder over reacted," she muttered. "She was just mad. If she had waited… and Weiss did attack her first."

Blake snorted, letting Emerald know what she thought about Weiss's 'attack.'.

"Does she know you told me where to find her?"

Emerald didn't answer, which really told Blake everything. She didn't bother to pressure her further, her emotions flickering between anger and pity. Eventually her feelings were able to settle on one.

"I've been where you are Emerald," she said softly. "With someone I shouldn't be, staying for what they could be rather than what they are. You need to get away from them."

"And where would I go? I don't have anyone else. Just Cinder."

Emerald snorted disdainfully but it came a second too late for it to be natural. The girl turned and began to walk away from Blake and she watched her go without another word. It wasn't until that Emerald passed out of sight from the Faunus that Emerald reached down into her pocket and pulled out Blake's small black wallet.

"Idiot," she muttered without much feeling.

Then she noticed the single lien price sticker still on the purse. Opening it up, she stared blankly at it. It was completely empty. Not a card, a coin or a note to be found. All except one thing. A train ticket back to Vale, with a message written on the back.

 _If you want to come back_


End file.
